Abuse an Animal in New York, Get Your Name on a List Like a Sex Offender

A Vicious Crime May Lead New York City To Require Animal Abusers to Register Just Like Sex Offenders

We're happy to write this story this morning, because 1) it gives us an excuse to run the photo at left -- look at that face! -- and 2) because this is a great piece of news to start the week.

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New York City officials are considering a new measure that would require rotten people who abuse animals to register their names, addresses and photographs for an online registry of abusers, much like the registry for sex offenders, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The list would be available to animal shelters and pet shops, and the abusers would not be allowed to own animals. If abusers failed to register, or owned a pet while they're on the list, they would be subject to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

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"We want to keep defenseless animals out of the hands of known abusers," the measure’s chief sponsor, Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr., said.

The measure comes on the heels of a horrendous 2011 crime, in which a 30-year-old man in Queens, New York threw his Shar-Pei out of a third-floor window.

The villain was sentenced to 364 days in jail and will not be allowed to own an animal for three years, a sentence -- especially the last part -- which seems ridiculously lenient. How can that guy ever be allowed to own an animal again?

Three counties in New York already have animal abuser registries, the Times reports, and nine other states have introduced plans to establish them according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

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But the Times also points out that the measures to introduce the registries have been difficult to pass, mostly because of the cost involved. An effort to establish a registry in Virginia flopped because the state's police estimated it would have cost $1 million, and efforts in other states have been held for similar reasons.

Still, the Animal Legal Defense Fund points out how effective the animal abuser registry could be, and not just for animals; such registries could help save human lives, since a common trait of serial killers is that they tortured animals as children.