JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A new animal welfare bill goes into effect today, and it’s making it harder for convicted animal abusers to adopt.
One of the changes brought forth by House Bill 559 will be the increased list of required information about a convicted animal abuser on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s statewide animal abuse database.
When the animal abuse database first went live on Jan. 1, it only included the first and last name of the convicted animal abuser, leaving shelters with few methods to verify if a potential client had abused animals in the past.
Now, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will begin adding each convicted animal abuser’s listing to include any aliases, their birthday, race, specific case information, any identifying marks or tattoos, and their mugshot.
Debbie Darino is the animal rights advocate behind the bill. She also helped pass Ponce’s Law back in 2018, which increased criminal penalties for animal abusers.
She says the goal is to keep animals out of the wrong hands.
“This is like a resource tool, basically,” Darino said. “Look their name up, make sure they’re not in the database, so that you don’t give that animal to an animal abuser.”
The database will include people with convictions from three years ago for a first misdemeanor, five years ago for a first felony, and 10 years ago for any additional conviction.
The bill also increases the maximum civil penalty a county can enact for animal cruelty ordinances from $500 to $2,500 for a first violation, $5,000 for a second and $7,500 for three or more.
Additionally, adults who commit such acts in front of a minor can now face up to five years in jail or a hefty $5,000 fine.
If the minor is the one convicted of these crimes, they must now undergo a psychological evaluation.
Darino says she hopes all of this will help keep animals safe.
“These abusers, they do try every trick in the book to get animals for their own evil ways,” Darino said. “They don’t stay in one county; they travel around, get animals all over the place. Make sure you research people.”
Someone with an overturned conviction or who has “received a sealing of the criminal history record for which his or her information was publicly posted” can petition to have their name and information removed from the database.
FDLE will have until Jan. 1 to add the additional information.
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