Right now in New York State, someone convicted of animal abuse in one county can simply drive to a neighboring county — one with no registry — and adopt or purchase another animal. Nothing stops them. No one is warned.

That is the reality of New York's current patchwork approach to animal abuse registries. Thirty of the state's 62 counties have their own registries. The rest have done nothing. The result, as State Senator James Tedisco describes it, is a "Wild West" of uncoordinated local laws that animal abusers can easily navigate around.

Senate Bill S.1563 would fix this with a single, statewide registry of individuals convicted of animal abuse in New York — publicly accessible and available to shelters, rescues, and breeders before they allow someone to take ownership of an animal.

The need is urgent. Research — and the FBI, which classifies animal cruelty as a top-tier Group A offense — confirms that violence against animals is a bridge crime that frequently leads to violence against people. The individual who inspired Buster's Law, New York's landmark 1999 animal cruelty felony statute, later went to prison for attempted rape and sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl.

Recent cases in New York make the point painfully: a pit bull puppy allegedly tortured and set on fire in Albany, a French bulldog named Gus killed by heat at a doggy daycare, 21 dogs dead at a boarding facility in Washington County. Every one of these cases is heartbreaking. A statewide registry won't prevent every act of cruelty — but it will make it harder for known abusers to get their hands on another animal.

Sign this petition to demand that the New York State Legislature pass S.1563 and that Governor Hochul sign it into law.