"California may soon place animal abusers on the same level as sex offenders by listing them in an online registry, complete with their home addresses and places of employment.
The proposal, made in a bill introduced Friday by the State Senate's majority leader, Dean Florez, would be the first of its kind in the
country[....]
Under Mr. Florez's bill, any person convicted of a felony involving animal cruelty would have to register with the police and provide a range of personal information and a current photograph. That information would be posted online, along with information on the person's offense.
The bill was drafted with help from the Animal Legal Defense Fund, an animal-protection group based in Cotati, Calif., north of San Francisco. The group has promoted the registry not only as a way to notify the public but also as a possible early warning system for other crimes.
'We know there's a link between those who abuse animals and those who perform other forms of violence,' said Stephan Otto, the group's director of legislative affairs. 'Presumably if we're able to track animal abusers and be able to know where they live, there will be less opportunity where those vulnerable to them would be near them.'" This news has me terribly excited and hoping that the measure in some form or another would be adopted in multiple states, perhaps even nationally. Further more I think it represents an important step in the history of animal welfare.
I have stated in the past and am more than willing to state here again for the record, that while I do not consider animals to be the same as people, at the same time I am saddened and disgusted by laws that attempt to view them as nothing more than mere property. If someone kills one of my babies, and the judge starts talking about depreciation schedules just watch me flip out.
Even live stock which I like many do not have an emotional attachment to, surely deserve more consideration than they are currently given.
This is why I advocate for a new distinct class of laws that are uniquely tailored to animals. I think that this proposed law in California may help to make that a reality.
Also as the article states, it may be an important tool in helping to forestall, or more easily solve crimes involving humans since there has been a more than anecdotal link between people who routinely abuse animals, and who then go on to commit crimes against people.
My hope is that my readers will join me in contacting their elected officials at all levels and encourage them to create similar legislation (or in the case of Californians, to pass it). Together we can help enhance our own humanity be ensuring that their are strong protections for the furred, finned, feathered, and scaled with whom we share the planet.
Keep The Faith My Brothers And Sisters!
And now for a special announcement:
Tomorrow and Wednesday I will be talking about Health Care Reform. Tuesday I will be looking at a joint Op Ed that appeared in the New York Times by a number of Conservative leaders, and then on Wednesday I will be delving into President Obama's suggestions regarding Health Care Reform. I have a special offer to make to the readers of The One About.... If you've gone to the official Whitehouse web site, you've no doubt seen that there are several items regarding Health Care Reform. Most of them are easy to read quickly, such as the overview of the plan which is available in both HTML and PDF formats. Likewise the information about Conservative ideas contained in both the House/Senate bills, and in President Obama's suggestions. What is a bit more of a hassle though is the offerings of President Obama's plan in greater detail. Titles I thru X offer much more detail, but there is no easy way to access the information all at once and just print it out. Instead it is broken down into sub sections. So for my own convenience I copied and pasted so I could print it out. And now I'd like to offer it to you my readers. It is a simple text file, so should be compatible with pretty much any word processing program. It's not fancy I'll be honest, but if you'd like I'd be happy to email a copy to anyone who's interested. Simply send an email to toriach@gmail and I will email you a copy. I can send you all ten parts or just a particular segment whichever you prefer.
Alright, special announcement over. See you tomorrow, and until then....
Keep The Faith My Brothers And Sisters!
(This article originally appeared at The One About...) |
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