[Erunsenef]

The idea of this makes me so HAPPY!

Plan would treat animal abusers like sex offenders
Rockets owner Alexander backs registry for felons
By PEGGY FIKAC
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Jan. 1, 2011, 7:53AM

AUSTIN — People convicted of felony animal cruelty offenses would have to register just like sex offenders do under a proposal being pushed by Houston Rockets owner Les Alexander.

Alexander is one of the advocates hoping lawmakers take time to focus on animal welfare in the upcoming legislative session.

"A predator is a predator, if it's against a human or it's against an animal," said Alexander, who in 2007 put muscle behind toughening Texas' animal-cruelty law.
The registry proposal hasn't yet been filed. Four Houston lawmakers plan to carry it forward: Democratic Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire, Republican Sen. Joan Huffman, Democratic Rep. Senfronia Thompson and Republican Rep. Beverly Woolley.

Among other pet-related proposals is a revival of the so-called puppy mill bill, which would create a state regulatory program to license and set minimum standards for commercial breeders. The measure's still being drafted.

Thompson plans to carry it as she did in 2009, when it died after being opposed by veterinarians and a group including hobby breeders. This time, the Texas Veterinary Medical Association has helped work on a new version of the measure, which is a priority of the Texas Humane Legislation Network.

"I want to make sure the puppies that are being sold are healthy animals, that they are being treated in a humane way," Thompson said.

A separate bill that has already been filed would allow pets to be added to protective orders in family violence cases.

Tally is not complete
Some of the measures have been tried before, but the registry effort is new. Lobbyist Bill Miller, pushing the idea for Alexander, said no other state has passed it. A registry has been approved in New York State's Suffolk County.

The idea would work like the Texas registry that makes information public about sex offenders, though it might be tiny in comparison.

Texas has 62,971 registered sex offenders. Since the animal cruelty law was toughened in 2007, just 24 people have been sent to the Texas Department of Criminal justice for cruelty to non-livestock animals.

But that tally is incomplete. It doesn't include those simultaneously serving time for an animal-cruelty felony and another crime with a longer sentence. It also doesn't include those who receive deferred adjudication, who also would be required to register. Those figures couldn't be obtained Thursday.

"A list has to start somewhere, with someone," Miller said. "It will be a deterrent and a valuable tool" for checking on potential pet owners.

Backers cited a connection between animal abuse and violence toward people.
"As a former prosecutor and judge, I am aware that those with a history of animal abuse may potentially commit future violent acts," Huffman said in a statement.
In a bow to the tough fiscal times, it's envisioned as being funded by donations and gifts. Alexander said he'll "be chipping in big."

Woolley in a statement called the registry "another step toward stopping some child predators. Studies show that child predators begin as animal abusers. … To be the first state to achieve this, without using general revenue, relying solely on private donations, makes this bill a good way to usher good feelings into the Legislature."

'High-tech Scarlet Letter'
Jim Harrington of the Texas Civil Rights Project, however, called it "one of the more inane legislative ideas I've heard."

"The idea of criminal justice is you commit the crime, you pay the penalty. Why do you have this ongoing punishment with the registry? It becomes like a high-tech Scarlet Letter," Harrington said.

The so-called puppy mill measure would set up state licensing and regulation for commercial breeders. The U.S. Department of Agriculture currently oversees breeders who sell wholesale, but there's no regulation of those who sell retail.

pfikac@express-news.net