Florida Renews Effort For State Animal Abuser Registry - National Humane Education Society

Paws Up!

According to a recent news article, Florida is again considering the establishment of a public animal abuser registry, modeled after sex-offender registries. If a statewide law passed to create the registry, Florida residents convicted of animal cruelty crimes would appear on a searchable online database, listing their name, address, and a description of the offense. A countywide registry of this nature already exists in Hillsborough County, Florida. Although legislators in other states have pushed to pass animal cruelty registries on the state level, Tennessee is the only state thus far to have done so.

Online, public-facing animal abuser registries can be used as a tool to help animal shelter administrators and breeders screen potential adopters and purchasers.

Take action. Florida residents, contact your legislators and urge them to pass legislation that would identify animal cruelty offenders. See NHES’ sample action letter below.

Re: Statewide Animal Cruelty Registry in Florida

Dear [Name of Legislator],

My name is [Your Name] and I am a Florida resident. I am writing because I recently became aware of renewed efforts to establish a statewide animal abuser registry in Florida. I would like to express my ardent support of such a registry. For one, creating a searchable online registry of animal cruelty offenders would be invaluable to animal shelters screening potential adopters. Furthermore, violence against companion animals rarely occurs by itself, and often coincides with or precedes crimes against people. Identifying those who commit the worst acts against animals will help protect the welfare of innocent animals, and society at large. I thank you for your consideration, and hope you will support future efforts to establish an animal cruelty registry in Florida.

Appreciatively,

[Your Name]