Proposed Florida bill aims to create statewide animal abuse database

LAKELAND, Fla. - Currently, there's no way for those selling animals to keep track of animal abusers across the state, but a new state bill aims to change that.

Senate Bill 494 would require the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to post on its website the names of people who have been convicted of or who pleaded guilty to animal cruelty.

Senate Bill 494, which would create a database of animal abusers.

This would allow anyone selling an animal, whether a person, shelter, or pet store, to check whether a potential buyer or adopter is qualified to own animals.

The backstory:

The bill would complete Ponce's Law, which was passed back in 2018. It increased penalties for people abusing animals and allowed a court to order someone not to own animals if convicted.

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"What we found over time with these adoption clinics is they don't really know who has been ordered not to have access to animals anymore because people move from place to place to place," Senator Tom Leek of District 7 said.

Cats up for adoption lay at SPCA in Polk County.

Leek sponsored Ponce's Law and introduced SB 494. He says the bill is important because there's a strong correlation between people who hurt animals before hurting people.

"It's also important to know for the criminal justice system, as they're scoring out penalties that they know this person has been convicted in the past of abusing animals, and they can take that into account when they're scoring the penalty should they subsequently abuse people," said Leek.

Randa Richter with SPCA Florida says she has been waiting decades for a bill like this. She believes it will effectively deter animal hoarders and backyard breeders.

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"I think it's absolutely fantastic and long overdue," said Richter. "Right now, we do the best we can to vet our adopters, but if we were able to just click a link and look up a name, that would make it so much easier. Also, it would calm your mind knowing you're doing your due diligence."