2/24/2010 12:55:00 PM California introduces animal abuse registry bill
State Senate majority leader Dean Florez introduced a bill this week in California that would require animal abusers in the state to list themselves in a registry, as is currently done with sex offenders and arsonists.
According to the Animal League Defense Fund, who is supporting the registry effort with its new campaign, www.ExposeAnimalAbusers.org, the bill would include "violence, sexual abuse, and animal fighting as well as neglect."
"We operate shelters in the hopes of giving abandoned pets a second chance at a loving home, not subjecting them to lives of continued abuse and neglect," Florez, a Democrat and chairman of the Food and Agriculture Committee, said in a press conference this morning. "
Supporters of the registry say it would help ensure animals are not being adopted out to convicted abusers, end the cycle of abuse and increase the likelihood of finding these pets the forever home they deserve."
