FARMINGVILLE, N.Y. — You've heard of Megan's Laws, designed to keep sex offenders from striking again. Now there's a law created in the hope of preventing animal abusers from inflicting more cruelty – or moving on to human victims.
Suffolk County, on the eastern half of Long Island, moved to create the nation's first animal abuse registry this week, requiring people convicted of cruelty to animals to register or face jail time and fines.
“We know there is a very strong correlation between animal abuse and domestic violence,” said Suffolk County legislator Jon Cooper, the bill's sponsor. “Almost every serial killer starts out by torturing animals, so in a strange sense we could end up protecting the lives of people.”
Phi Beta Iota: Would you hire a known animal abuser to walk your dogs? What is interesting about this is not the context, but the fact of. What can be tracked will be tracked. There will be PerpFax service just like CarFax. No place to hide–and virtual justice will also be done, as people who buy their way out of high crimes are “outed” everywhere they go. Non-violent shaming and shunning…now there's an ancient concept coming back to life.
