Animal abusers now need to register like sex offenders in some states

A new law is growing in popularity across the country to protect dogs, cats and other pets. Several United States jurisdictions have implemented an animal offenders registry, which is similar to how sex offenders are registered, and will publicly reveal the names of known animal abusers in the area.

Currently, Tennessee is the only place to implement a state-wide registry. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations is currently monitoring the state's registry, which can be accessed at any local office. However, other counties, such as Suffolk County in New York, Hillsborough Country in Florida and Cook County in Illinois, are have set up localized animal offender registries. Other states such as Texas, Connecticut and Washington are setting up similar initiatives.

The information a person will learn upon seeking out the registry is the name, date of birth, offense, conviction date and expiration date of all know abusers. First-time abusers' names will stay on the list for two years and an additional five years will be added to their expiration date for every subsequent offense after the original.

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