Animal Abusers Registry

Late last month, Long Island, NY’s Suffolk County went live with the first publicly accessible online registry of its kind—a database of convicted animal abusers. The county’s law mandates that anyone convicted of a serious animal crime be included in the registry for five years, which costs offenders $50 per year and displays their name, address, and photograph. The Suffolk County SPCA established the list in conjunction with a law that requires local pet stores, breeders, and shelters to request photo identification from anyone seeking to adopt an animal, thereby allowing them to check the registry in order to identify abusers and prevent future crimes.