Animal abusers should be known

Linda Faso, Las Vegas

Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013 | 2:01 a.m.

Our state has good reasons to be concerned about the whereabouts of animal abusers, including the high rate of recidivism among animal hoarders, the dangers to our community that are associated with animal fighting, and the well-established link between violence toward animals and violence toward humans.

Mandatory registration for convicted animal abuses in our state would aid dramatically in keeping offenders away from potential new victims by alerting law enforcement and the public to their whereabouts, and by allowing animal shelters to screen potential adopters for criminal offenders. This in turn would reduce the enormous cost burdens our shelters face in caring for these animal victims.