New York’s Animal Cruelty Registry – How It Could Affect You

By Amy Fernandez

June 26 saw New York come closer to becoming the first state with an official animal cruelty registry. By official- I mean legally mandated. It’s nothing new. Since forever, breeders and rescue groups have created, cross-referenced, and utilized unofficial registries to screen potential owners. Animal cruelty has been a felony in New York since 1999. That alone makes it easy to access background information. Regardless of whether you’re screening job applicants or online dates, it has become a routine precaution.

This bill is comparable to Megan’s Law, the sex offender registry. Offenders will be prohibited from “exercising control over a companion animal” for stipulated periods. Anyone convicted or entering New York with animal cruelty convictions must register with local law enforcement or face additional penalties.

Local law enforcement must establish and maintain publicly accessible registries of this information, forward it to various state agencies, and contact residents, schools, and animal-related businesses within a half mile of the offender’s residence. They must provide them with identifying information including height, weight, eye color, birth date, distinguishing features, home address, work address, and felony details.

Community notification laws and public online registries were implemented to raise awareness of potential threats and prevent victimization. But it’s no guarantee. Two New York public school teachers made headlines last week after arrests for molesting students. Neither one had s record of this behavior. Empirical research confirming the value of sex offender registries is matched by studies revealing flaws. The jury’s still out on that issue, but growing evidence highlights unintended consequences and collateral damage of these registries. Establishing and maintaining them has cost far more than lawmakers anticipated. Within a year, implementing Megan’s Law expenses more than quadrupled the estimated $555,565 cost in New Jersey.

Currently Megan’s Law maintains information on over 644,000 sex offenders. Another glaring problem has been sweeping scope offenses mandating registration. Although convictions are categorized by tiers of offense many individuals in the database represent no community threat. For example, arrests for indecent exposure, public masturbation, and public urination qualify. Users accessing these databases must verify that the information will not be used to target listed offenders. But research dating back to 2007 reveals that it’s not working out that way.

Making the list is enough to compromise job prospects, force relocation, and invite harassment – which isn’t limited to offenders. Family members of RSOs are frequently ostracized and harassed by neighbors, co-workers, teachers, and classmates. They are also targets for property damage, terrorism, and physical assault. This is the main issue that worries me. AR groups have a long history of vigilantism and utilizing personal information to threaten and harm individuals- and their family members. Anyone they believe to challenge their extremist views becomes fair game. Some of the most notorious cases involve medical researchers and their families, not convicted felons.

AR chat lists are not only celebrating this bill’s passage, they are clamoring to add categories for certain corporate executives. When you are checking that, visit Exvegans.com, the newly launched site to out former vegans. Profiles of targeted individuals include photos, descriptions, and contact information. Last time I checked, we live in a free country and dietary preferences are personal decisions. So, what’s the point of this website?

I’ll also note that the Animal Legal Defense Fund drove this bill’s passage. Its spokesmen are on record stating their goal to obtain legal standing for animals. Since its founding, ALDF has promoted private monitors of legislative action and utilized obscure legal strategies to target perceived enemies.

Is this the next step in the animal rightists’ agenda to take away the rights of animal owners in New York? Only time will tell.

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Posted by admin on Jul 5 2013. Filed under Breaking News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.