The Goal:

We are animal lovers and advocates. Our goal is to raise awareness for animal cruelty and to protect potential animal "victims" from abuse. We hope to provide strides toward our goal by convincing the St. Johns County Commissioners to adopt an animal abuser registry.

The Who:

Kaley, Dave, Jack (humans), Kira, Buddha, Klondike, Kingston, Karley, Joey, Ripley, & Rivers (fur children)

Kaley and Dave have adopted 5 dogs over the years from various rescues. Jack has adopted several animals as well. Dave and Jack are law partners and their law office provides pro bono legal services to several of the local animal rescues. This is a cause very near and dear to our hearts.

The Why:

Animals are still considered "property" in the State of Florida. What does that mean? That means that animals are not given the same rights that you and I are afforded by the laws. Animals have little to no voice and do not have advocates to stand by them in the court of law as you and I do. Fortunately, animal rights are beginning to become more developed through the country with increased criminal sentences for animal cruelty offenders, animal abuser registries intended to prevent abusers from gaining access to animals, and, in some cases, court-appointed attorneys to represent animals who are victims of animal cruelty in court. [See https://aldf.org/article/unique-connecticut-law-allows-court-appointed-advocates-to-represent-animals/

A strong correlation has been established linking people who abuse animals with incidents of domestic violence. Further, domestic violence and child abuse data reveal that a staggering number of animals are targeted by those who also abuse their spouse or children. Lastly, people who abuse animals are more likely to continue abusing animals in the future. For example, there is a near 100% recidivism rate for certain types of animal abuse, such as animal hoarding. [Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/the-growing-trend-of-animal-abuser-registries/

Currently, there is no statewide animal abuser registry in Florida. Only a handful of counties in Florida have enacted animal abuser registries. In those counties, if convicted of a misdemeanor or felony animal-abuse crime, the offender's information (name, picture, address, offense, conviction date, etc.) is included in a publicly-accessible registry for a certain length of time. This allows rescue organizations to better-vet potential adopters. Furthermore, since animal abuse is often an early sign of potential human abuse, a registry allows law enforcement officials to monitor offenders.

Conclusion:

We are looking for support so we can show our County Commissioners that this is a cause that the citizens care passionately about. Please support our petition by signing it and sharing it with your animal-loving friends and family!

More Info:

If you'd like to follow our journey more-closely and to find additional information, please join our Facebook group entitled "St. Johns County Animal Abuser Registry Movement."

Thank you for your support! We greatly appreciate it! Keep up the good fight!