A new federal bill wants to track animal abusers nationwide. Is a public registry really the answer?
A growing number of US states are building databases to prevent convicted animal abusers from obtaining pets, but animal welfare organizations warn that public registries may hinder rehabilitation and do little to protect animals in practice.
Think of a database that could screen convicted animal abusers and prevent them from obtaining a pet. It already exists in three states and legislation is pending for a federal one.
But not everyone is convinced the concept is as effective as it may seem.
Florida implemented an Aggravated Animal Cruelty List that shelters and breeders can check before they hand over a dog, cat or other creature to a would-be adopter.
The list inspired two Florida congressmen, Greg Steube and Randy Fine, along with Rep. Jefferson Van Drew of New Jersey (all Republicans) to introduce The Law Enforcement Animal Safety Harm Reporting (LEASH) Act of 2026 (H.R. 9078).
Two Democrats, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Donald Davis of North Carolina, signed on to lend the bill some bipartisan support.
Of the sponsors, only Van Drew sits on the Judiciary Committee, where the bill was referred.
The act would require states to report people convicted of felony animal cruelty to the U.S. Department of Justice, which within two years would create a publicly-available database that animal shelters, pet stores and breeders could consult before providing a pet.
“Studies have shown particularly high recidivism rates among individuals convicted of animal hoarding and chronic abuse-related offenses,” chief sponsor Steube stated in a prepared release.
Florida's database went live in January. It provides an Excel list of names of “individuals who have been convicted of, or have entered a plea of “Guilty” or “Nolo Contendere” to state animal cruelty law and allows people to check the database by name. It provides no further information on the charges or names nor any information about crimes that anyone may have committed out of state.
Tennessee has more experience, having established the Tennessee Animal Abuse Registry a decade ago, the first such state list in the nation. Its database includes more information than Florida's, including pictures of convictees to protect innocent people with the same or similar names.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) demands that county clerks supply information within 60 days of disposing of a case. The law applies to crimes committed against domestic dogs and cats but not livestock or wildlife. It only lists crimes committed in Tennessee. For first offenders, the name is removed after two years if the individual is not convicted of another animal abuse offense. Upon a subsequent conviction, the name remains on the list five years. The bureau also must remove a name if a conviction is expunged.
“We do not track how the creation of the registry may have affected animal abuse convictions,” Carley Gordon, administrator of the Public Affairs Division, wrote in an email.
Delaware also established an animal abuse offender list signed into law last August. The law “prohibits animal shelters from approving pet adoptions to individuals who are on the animal abuse offender list.” The list includes names and pictures of individuals convicted of misdemeanor and felony offenses against animals after the law was passed. As of June, only 19 people are included.
In 2018, the Connecticut General Assembly passed a bill that would have created an animal abuse registry of those “convicted or found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect of certain animal abuse crimes.” But then-Governor Dannel Malloy (D) vetoed it.
Connecticut advocates are trying again this year. Another bill ( HB 5264) pending in the Connecticut legislature would create a task force to study the possibility of creating a registry. The task force would have to submit a report by the end of this year.
Several localities in New York state, including New York City, established abuser databases as far back as 2010. Generally, the laws require adult abusers to register and forbid pet shops and shelters from providing pets to them.
However, the registry concept isn't getting unanimous support.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) acknowledges the good intentions behind the registries but has reservations about their effectiveness. "These animal abuser registry laws are certainly well-intentioned and we share the goal of ensuring animals are not placed with individuals whom the courts have determined are ill-suited to providing them with a safe and healthy home," Staff Attorney Kathleen Woods told Species Unite.
However, Woods expressed concern about the impact of publicly available registries on offender rehabilitation. Rather than public databases, the ALDF favors so-called "possession bans", which are laws that prohibit those convicted of animal cruelty from owning, possessing, or residing with animals for a set period of time.
"We can ensure better possession ban enforcement by enacting carefully constructed laws that provide a list of those individuals with possession bans solely to law enforcement agencies, as well as select retailers and organizations that regularly sell or adopt out animals," she added.
Woods says it's too early to judge the new laws in Florida and Delaware but that “Tennessee's registry has historically been limited to a very small number of individuals.”
She also noted that laws regarding animal cruelty vary by state. “It would be difficult, if not impossible, for a national law to account for these many differences,” she warned.
Likewise, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says it “believes that this approach does little to protect animals or people and can have unintended consequences.” It says they aren't used much, are limited in the scope of crimes included, and that most abusers don't get their animals from shelters anyway.
A study published back in 2011 by the Animal Legal & Historical Center warned that databases contain much inaccurate information. But it concluded that a “national animal abuser registry would provide more comprehensive statistical data about animal abuse, track animal abusers, provide a way for researchers to identify patterns of animal cruelty, send a message to animal abusers that their behavior is not acceptable, and protect vulnerable populations from potential harm.”
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