justice
Animal cruelty convictions would trigger a public registry
New York’s proposal would make people convicted under Buster’s Law register with state criminal-justice officials, keep their information current and stay on the list until a judge says otherwise. It also would bar them from owning companion animals or working where animals are k
New York would create a public animal cruelty registry for people convicted under sections 351 and 353-a of the Agriculture and Markets Law. The list would be public, searchable and backed by annual updates, with removal available only by court order after psychiatric or psychological testing.
- People convicted under sections 351 and 353-a would have to register with state criminal-justice officials.
- The registry would be public and searchable in print and online.
- Registrants would have to update yearly and after any move.
- A court order, backed by psychological or psychiatric testing, would be needed to come off the list.
- The bill would also bar registrants from owning companion animals or working around them.
In New York, a conviction under the state’s animal-cruelty law would not end with the courtroom. The proposal would create a public animal cruelty register for people convicted under Agriculture and Markets Law sections 351 and 353-a, the offenses tied to Buster’s Law, and it would put the Division of Criminal Justice Services in charge of keeping it.
The bill would also draw a hard line around future contact with animals. People on the registry would be barred from owning a companion animal or working at an animal shelter, pound, pet store, zoo or similar animal-related business, turning the conviction into a continuing restriction, not just a record of the past.
A record that follows moves
The registry would hold at least a registrant’s name and address, and it would exist in both print and electronic form. It would be open to the public, along with law enforcement, district attorneys, humane societies, societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals, dog and cat protective associations, animal-control officers, breeders, animal rescues and pet stores doing business in the state.
Registrants would have to update their information every year, and again whenever they move to a new address. For shelters and rescues, that makes the list more than a paperwork file tucked away in Albany. It becomes a screening tool that can be checked before an animal is placed, sold or transferred.
Getting off the list takes a judge
Removal would not happen automatically, and it would not happen easily. A person would stay on the registry until a court orders the registration to stop, and the court could not do that until the person has undergone psychiatric or psychological testing.
The testing would have to show, by clear and convincing evidence, that the person has the capacity and sound mental ability to own and care for an animal in a humane way. That standard keeps the registry active until a judge is satisfied the person can safely be around animals again.