MARION COUNTY, Fla. —An effort is underway to create a statewide registry of animal abusers, and it’s being championed by a woman in Marion County who led the push for a countywide abuser registry named after the pup she adopted.
Molly, a dog who was found severely beaten and stabbed, would later be adopted by SPCA of Ocala President Lilly Baron.
“It was just a feeling of this dog’s meant for me,” Baron said.
After she adopted Molly, Baron took her on tour to various community events to share her story of the impact animal abuse can have.
“I was so angry about what had happened to her,” she said. “I decided that that should never happen to any animal again. So I decided I was going to educate the public about animal abusers, animal abuse, what it can do to the animal, what it does to the public, the whole realm.”
The effort proved successful on the county level, spurring the community to rally behind what is now known as “Molly’s Law,” Marion County’s own database of known and convicted abusers.
I am an animal lover and yet I think the idea of an animal abuse registry is dangerous. One sentence in this article should make everyone stop and think of what could happen: “The database would be operated in the same way as the sex offense database.” In addition, we know the existing sex offense registry is ineffective and the proposed animal registry is very likely to be the same.
It was just a matter of time before they started creating more registries. My pups are my world so I suppose this one is a good place to start. If it saves just one dog 😁
The article mentioned law enforcement and those who work with animals accessing it but I wonder if it will be available to the public? It doesn’t specifically mention that but it said it would be operated in the same way as the PFR database.
“The effort proved successful on the county level, spurring the community to rally behind what is now known as “Molly’s Law,”
what proof? Show me proof! Maybe a drunk driver registry then?!?! Then all bartenders can not serve registered drunk drivers?!? That would cure all drunk driving….. right???😂😂
Since a lot of people consider their pets as their ‘kids’ it would have a similar public response but not quite as a repulsive effect upon those who are on it.
Is this pet abuser registry going to catch the abuser before it happens to a pet ? NO… another WASTE of time, WASTE of MONEY and another way for the US GOVERNMENT to control EVERY SINGLE American by putting them on a REGISTRY !!
Can we start a REGISTRY for STUPID Politicians please ? Then we know who NOT to vote for !!
How many people who abused an animal continue that behavior? I’m all for protecting animals, but I don’t believe a registry is the right way to go especially if it’s molded after the infamous Fl. registry.
This might be one of the best strategies to eliminate registries. Start pushing for registries for everything. Theft, animal abuse, drunk driving, drug abuse, and more.
BTW, significantly more children are killed by drug abusers than by people forced to register.
I am curious if there are any animal testing labs in Florida that would fall into this “animal abuse” law? What about zoo’s? Keeping wild animals in captivity for profit is animal slavery, which is abuse.
The best way to prove bad law is bad is to enforce it 100%.