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Tennessee to Become First State with an Animal Abuse Registry

While online registries containing information about convicted animal abusers are available in some U.S. cities, most notably New York, there is currently no statewide registry.

That will change on Jan. 1, 2016, when Tennessee will become the first state to have an animal abuse registry.

“We proposed this law not just to take a stand against animal cruelty, but to take concrete action to prevent abuse and deter those who repeatedly engage in the torture and killing of animals,” Sen. Jeff Yarbro, the sponsor of a bill that led to the creation of the statewide registry, told the Huffington Post.

Similar to a sex offender registry, Tennessee’s animal abuse registry will contain the names, current photographs and other identifying data of adults who have been convicted of felonies including aggravated animal cruelty, felony animal fighting, bestiality and related offenses, and cruelty to animals.

The information will be compiled by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and posted on its website. Only abusers convicted on or after Jan. 1, 2016, will be listed.

“First-time offenders will stay on the registry for two years — you know, make them think twice before they…abuse or neglect an animal,” Wendy Palmer of the Greene County Humane Society told WJHL.

The registry will make it easier for animal shelters and rescue organizations to identify people who should never have pets. And since animal abusers often move on to violence against people (serial killers Robert Durst, Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy all started out by torturing animals), it could prove helpful to law enforcement.

Opponents of animal abuse registries say they could encourage offenders to plead guilty to lesser offenses to avoid being listed.

When a statewide animal abuse registry was proposed in California five years ago, Randall Lockwood, a cruelty expert with the ASPCA, was opposed to it.

“An upside is that a registry enlists the public in the monitoring process,” he told USA TODAY in February 2010. “But many worry a spirit of public vigilantism could arise, prompting people to take revenge on an offender who in their minds has not been suitably punished by the legal system.”

Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, is also not a fan of animal abuse registries. “When someone is convicted and punished for cruelty, does shunning or shaming them forever do any good for any animals?” he asked in 2010.

Instead of registries, Pacelle suggested that “efforts to stop animal abuse and improve public safety should focus on upgrading criminal animal cruelty and neglect penalties and encouraging more vigorous application of these laws.”

Sen. Yarbro told the Huffington Post the statewide Tennessee animal abuser registry won’t take resources away from law enforcement efforts.

“Given the documented link between abuse of animals and violence against people, I think states should consider registries and numerous other measures to put a stop to such cruelty,” Yarbro said.

Emily Strope, adoption coordinator for the Downtown Dogs Group rescue organization in Jackson, Tenn., plans to regularly check the registry once it’s up and running.

“We see dogs that have been beaten, chained, denied food and water,” she told WBBJ.

“Hopefully it will bring these people into the public eye. It will bring more awareness to people that this type of thing does exist and, in fact, is pretty rampant.”

Photo credit: my_southborough

Mystery Hero Saves Dog from Tennessee House Fire [Video]

UPDATE: The hero is no longer a mystery! It was dog lover Tim Tawater, a 20-year veteran of the Nashville Fire Department, who rescued Sampson, a young, 82-pound Bouvier.

“I’ve had dogs ever since I was born,” Tawater told WSMV this afternoon. “You got to figure that if there’s a dog in the house, the dog is definitely family.”

The homeowners, Brandon and April Gorley, got a call about the fire as they were starting a vacation in Gulf Shores. They immediately returned home. A relative who had been housesitting was out running an errand when the fire broke out.

The Gorleys met Tawater this afternoon. “He didn’t have to go into a house that was on fire,” Brandon told WSMV. “Deeply, deeply appreciate him being there.”

A man driving his gray Mustang down a White House, Tenn., street late Saturday afternoon stopped when he saw people gathered outside a house on fire.

Did he wait with them for help to arrive? Nope.

When he found out there were pets inside, the unidentified hero ran into the burning house and emerged a couple minutes later, carrying a large black dog. About 30 seconds later, the roof of the house collapsed.

Jimmy Nichols, a keyboardist for singers like Reba McIntyre and Faith Hill, captured the rescue on video.

“[He] says, ‘I do this for a living,’” Nichols told WSMV. “The dog was scared to death, but he saved this dog. It was incredible to see.”

The mystery man in the gray Mustang drove off without leaving his name.

“It was so weird — he just took off,” Nichols said.

The dog’s owners were out of town, so he was taken to a friend’s house. Unfortunately, the house was destroyed by the fire, which started in the attic. Three cats are still missing.

Nichols and others in the neighborhood — especially the homeowners, I assume — are hoping the hero comes forward so they can thank him.

“He’s got the love and respect of this whole community,” Nichols told WSMV.

Losers Break into 2 Animal Shelters Just to Harm Dogs

SEPT. 17, 2015 UPDATE: Jason Johnson, the suspect in the Riverside County Animal Services shelter break-in, has been arrested.

Some pathetic excuses for human beings have broken into animal shelters in Tennessee and California over the past few days, apparently for the sole purpose of harming and killing dogs.

Intruder Starts a Dog Fight in Tennessee Shelter

Late Thursday night, one or more intruders broke into the Best Friends Sanctuary in Jamestown, Tenn. The loser(s) removed a Pit Bull named Sam from his locked cage and placed him in a cage with a Boxer named Bucky.

Then the intruder(s) encouraged the dogs to fight each other. It must have taken a lot of persuading for Sam. Shelter volunteer Chrissi Colquitt told WBIR Sam is “the sweetest dog you could imagine.”

When she and other shelter staff arrived for work Friday morning, they found Sam and Bucky bloody and covered with puncture wounds. Bucky had to be euthanized. It will take several weeks for Sam to recover from his injuries.

“It’s just sad to see that someone would be that evil and put two dogs to watch it for a show, you know, to put them through that,” Sharon Cravens, president of the shelter, told WBIR.

The Best Friends Sanctuary is a nonprofit run by volunteers. A crowdfunding page that was originally created to raise money for a fence upgrade is now asking for funds for surveillance cameras. As of early Sunday afternoon, about $600 of the $3,000 goal has been raised.

There is currently a $1,500 reward for information leading to the arrest of the loser(s) who did this. Anyone with information is asked to call the Jamestown Police Department at 931-879-5871.

3 Dogs Dead, 12 Missing after Southern California Shelter Break-In

“We found blood spatter everywhere,” John Welsh, spokesman for Riverside County Animal Services, told KTLA today, describing the horrific scene this morning at its shelter in Jurupa Valley, Calif.

Staff arrived around 6:30 a.m. to find seven dogs roaming free. Two dogs — a Chihuahua and a Yorkshire Terrier mix — were dead.

“Their deaths do not appear to be consistent with bite wounds — in other words, the bigger dogs causing the injuries to the dogs,” Welsh told KTLA.

“There were some blood markings that were about 3 feet off the ground. We don’t know exactly what caused that, but we don’t suspect that an animal jumped into the air and caused that blood splatter.”

Dr. Allan Drusys, Riverside County’s chief veterinarian, will perform necropsies on the two dogs to determine the cause of their deaths.

The Press Enterprise reports that one of the two victims had been brought to the shelter yesterday to be spayed. My heart goes out to that dog’s owner, who has been notified.

A German Shepherd that had been in the shelter was also found dead about a mile away. It had been hit by a car.

Fortunately, this shelter does have security cameras. Surveillance footage shows a man in dark clothing cutting through the locks on the cages. This creep broke into a total of 22 cages, leaving 15 of the locks stacked neatly in a pile.

Welsh told the Press Enterprise the incident was extremely upsetting for Riverside County Animal Services.

“We’re in the business of trying to save lives, we’re in the business of getting animals back to their rightful owners,” he said. “Our team was devastated.”

This afternoon it was announced that two non-profit organizations that work with the shelter — Animal Solutions Konnections (ASK) and Shelter Transport Animal Rescue Team (START) — are offering a $20,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to a conviction. To contribute to the reward amount, call ASK at 951-777-5341.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the case. Anyone with information is asked to call the department at 951-776-1099, or to fill out the Crime Tips form on the department’s website.

Photos via Facebook; Facebook