SAOVA Friends,
We have a serious situation in Tennessee as the animal abuser registry
bills continue to move forward. The
House version, HB 147, sponsored by Rep. Darren Jernigan (D, 60) has cleared
the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and has been referred to
the Government Operations Committee. The
Senate companion bill, SB 1204, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Yarboro (D, 21) has
cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee and has been
referred to the Senate Calendar Committee where it could be sent directly to
the Senate floor for a vote.
The bills require the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to establish an
online registry of anyone convicted of an animal abuse offense. This includes even misdemeanor animal cruelty
charges for failure to provide proper shelter or tethering a dog resulting in bodily
injury.
Dog breeders and sportsmen pride themselves on the care provided to
their dogs. Regardless, one should never
assume it is impossible to become involved in a disagreement with local
officials over the adequacy of shelter or condition of kennel dogs. Lose the argument and your name, photograph,
and case information will be included in an online registry which animal
activists can access. Any information placed online about animal abusers will
be widely circulated, putting these individuals at risk of harassment and
vigilante justice.
Establishing animal abuser registries is a campaign created in 2002 and
championed by the California-based Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) whose
mission is to use the legal system to change the current property status of
animals and advance the interest of animals in the legal system. In its
history, ALDF has never promoted legislation to help people. Its litigation and
legislative efforts are aimed at setting legal precedent for elevating the
status of animals or adding costly regulations within animal agriculture,
research, and pet industries that will undermine our use and ownership of
animals. ALDF justifies the need for a
registry with the claim that convicted animal abusers pose a real, ongoing
threat to pets, family, and community; further claiming their actions will
escalate to committing crimes against people. ALDF has even gone so far as to
say animal abusers are potential serial killers.
The first registry bill was introduced in Colorado in 2002 and failed. Dozens
of registry bills are introduced annually. These attempts have continually failed
in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii,
Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire,
New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and
previously in Tennessee. After suffering
years of failure with their registry campaign, ALDF announced a new plan to
create its own "Do Not Adopt List" which would contain the names of
animal abusers from all 50 states. List information would be obtained from
district attorneys nationwide after cases have been disposed.
Not even the HSUS or the ASPCA are in favor of these online registries.
In testimony submitted against the New York City registry, The American
Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) stated, “We have questions
about the concept of animal abuse registries because we know of no evidence
that they can achieve their purported aim, and we worry that they may instead
unwittingly do more harm than good. There
are serious practical issues surrounding the concept of animal abuser
registries, including the risk that having animal cruelty crimes associated
with a long-term abuser registry could inadvertently decrease the prosecution
of such offenses, that registries overlook the importance of addressing mental
health issues often seen in animal cruelty offenders and that properly
maintaining an animal abuser registry requires that there is a uniform,
centralized tracking of animal crimes, which currently does not exist.”
HSUS issued the following statement of opposition to online registries.
“Animal cruelty—like other crimes—must be reported, classified, and analyzed in
a comprehensive manner that results in swift and efficient enforcement of the
law and the general improvement of society. It is not clear that the current
round of proposals to create a public registry database would materially
advance these goals. In fact, it probably does nothing to help these people
learn a new way of viewing and treating animals.”
Why is the Tennessee legislature pursuing this course of action to
enact an unpopular registry and further the animal rights agenda of ALDF?
ACTION NEEDED.
DO NOT let the legislature continue to move forward with an animal
abuser registry which would make Tennessee the first state in the nation to embrace
this animal rights program. Establishing
the ALDF-inspired registry will bring shame forever to the state of Tennessee.
Contact your Representative and Senator immediately to oppose the
animal abuser registry. Find House
member contact here: http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/members/
and Senate member contact here: http://www.capitol.tn.gov/senate/members/
More information on animal abuser registries can be found at the SAOVA
website:
Please cross post widely.
Susan Wolf
Sportsmen's and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance
Working to identify and elect supportive legislators
Posts
