Don't look away.

"I made my first kill today. It was a loved one... I'll never forget the howl she made. It sounded almost human. I'll never forget the sound of her bones breaking under my might. It was true beauty." These were the words of Luke Woodham, a murderer that killed his own mother, shot two students and injured seven others at Pearl High School in February of 1981, describing the torture and murder of his dog.

Shon Rahrig adopted a number of animals from an Ohio animal shelter and was found to have been torturing them by breaking their jaws and legs, poking out their eyes, and sawing off their paws. He was then convicted of animal cruelty and was banned from owning another animal for a mere five years. Yes, you heard that correctly, there was no jail time for this sad excuse of a human-being. He then repeated this evil agenda in California and Florida by adopting more animals. But I will spare your imagination for that part.

If this does not make you sick to your stomach, then you are part of the problem. 

My name is Nicolle Marques and my dogs Toby (3 yr. old Labrador retriever mix), Maggie (2 yr. old Golden retriever), and Bruce (1 yr. old German Shepherd) are my most prized possessions. I rescued all three of them from high-kill animal shelters over the past three years, both in Florida and in Georgia. They freely provide me with companionship, protection, love, and joy, all without asking for a single thing in return. I did not have to earn any of this.

For years, animal rights laws have failed millions of domestic pets, including dogs, cats, birds, and rodents who have never had a voice. Consequentially, enabling these types of humans to adopt or buy pets, many for the sole purpose of inhumane torture, propose an even greater threat to society. According to a 2008 article published by Michigan State University, "70% of all animal abusers have committed at least one other criminal offense and almost 40% have committed violent crimes against people." So this is not a new issue. If we pay attention to the facts and enforce our lawmakers to act on it, we can prevent more animals and people from unjustifiably losing their lives over the cruelty of humans. As you can see, this is as much of a human problem, as it is an animal rights problem. 

Here is an example of how little lawmakers are doing to protect animal rights: Currently, Georgia law, along with many other states, do not make death, or unjustifiable physical pain or suffering to any animal a felony. For now, animal cruelty is still a misdemeanor, unless it is escalated to an aggravated animal cruelty charge. Why should it take an escalated "aggravated animal cruelty charge" to deem that a person has created a horrendous act against nature and poses a threat to society? Why does this not constitute automatic jail time for first and multiple time offenders, to prevent more cruelty from being done to both animals and humans? Needless to say, the bare minimum is being done to protect these precious lives that have provided nothing but joy and companionship to their humans for the past 29,000 years. In fewer words, this law "protecting animals" should be stricter.

I believe that an offender of a crime against nature such as this, should be known to the public via a "National Registry of Animal Abuse." This concept is similar to that of the National Sex Offender Registry and would make it a requirement for courts to record offenders' names on a list starting from their first offense of animal cruelty, in order to prevent a second offense. Since Georgia lawmakers are not currently interested in making animal abuse a criminal offense, shelters and breeders should at least be able to do a basic lookup of a person on a verified registry with court record backing, in order to confirm that the animal is going to a truly loving home.

There is currently nothing stopping animal abusers from torturing and killing helpless animals over and over again, and further satisfying their killing fantasies with humans. In the west, our pets are considered family members to most, and humans have domesticated them to act and live as such. Dogs' relationships with humans have evolved into an almost telepathic connection over the past thousands of years. These intelligent creatures are capable of reading our emotions and provide emotional support, guide the blind, aid the deaf, and their biggest role of providing unconditional love to their fellow human companions. They deserve so much more than what we are offering them. I am asking for the bare minimum to be done by creating a simple Animal Abuse Registry. If you have made it this far, thank you for reading. Please help this become a reality by signing my petition.