Cooper proposes animal abuser registry

Suffolk Legis. Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor) hopes to create a database of men and women who abuse animals, a list he compares to registries that track the whereabouts of sex offenders.

"It's tragic when an innocent animal's seemingly loving home becomes their torture chamber," said Cooper, who will hold a news conference Thursday to announce legislation to create a registry that would contain the names of convicted animal abusers.

Suffolk SPCA Chief Roy Gross, who will be at the news conference, said he supported the measure "100 percent," adding, "Hopefully, other municipalities will pick up on it as well, not only in New York, but maybe it could be a model throughout the nation. This is certainly needed."

Suffolk legislature presiding officer William Lindsay declined to comment on the plan Wednesday night, saying he had not carefully reviewed the language of the proposal.

Cooper said the legislation, if passed, would be the first of its kind in the nation. It would require people convicted of abusing animals to register and remain on the list for three years. The penalty for not registering would be a fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment for up to a year.

After expiration of the three-year period, anyone on the registry would be allowed to adopt or buy a pet.

Cooper said he'd introduce companion bills to ban people on the registry from obtaining animals, and to require pet stores and adoption agencies to check the registry and decline to sell or give an animal to anyone listed.

"This initiative will not only protect family pets, but because of the strong link between animal abuse and domestic violence, it will serve as an early warning system to the community to ward off the dangers of potential future violence against people as well," Cooper said in a statement Wednesday.