On Friday, July 30 2021, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed House Bill 128 stating that those who have been convicted of two or more animal abuse offenses will no longer be allowed to own a pet in Illinois. The new law prohibits owning, harboring or having control of any pets if a person (or multiple people) inside of a household have been convicted of two or more of the following offenses: violation of aggravated cruelty, a violation of animals for entertainment or a violation of dog fighting. While this law is an amazing step towards promoting new animal safety rights, it is not enough. From 2009-2012, there were 605 secondary charges on animal abuse yet there were 1,990 primary charges. Among all of the animal crimes, 92% were misdemeanors, 6% were felonies, and the remainder were missing a charge type. While 6% seems like a small amount, of the number of crimes in total, that is 156 felonies against animals. That is incredibly terrifying to think about. 

It is calculated that of Illinois offenders, 17% will re offend within a year and 43% will re offend within 3 years. This implies that if someone convicted of one animal abuse offence owns an animal, they are 17% more likely to re-abuse an animal again within that same year. This is why I propose a new bill stating that anyone convicted of an animal offence of any kind should not be able to legally own an animal and once they receive one offence they will no longer be able to own another animal after the fact, in order to protect the animals of Illinois well being and safety.