The facts are crystal clear: anyone who would be so twisted and depraved as to harm a defenseless animal would likely have no problem hurting a human.

As someone on the forefront of protecting people and pets from abuse for many years as the driving force behind passage of the landmark Buster’s Law, I’ve seen the research which indicates that violence against animals is a bridge crime that can, and has, led to violence against people.

Companion animals such as dogs and cats do so much to comfort us when we need them.

Pets offer companionship in more than 86 million U.S. households, and studies have shown they can provide a variety of health benefits including reducing stress and anxiety.

Our animals give emotional support and assistance to seniors and people with disabilities. They even have trained dogs that can tell if someone with diabetes needs their insulin medicine. And they help police, fire departments, and search and rescue efforts to keep our citizens safe.

We remember that canines were a critical part of the U.S. Navy Seal Team 6 mission to take down and eliminate Osama Bin Laden. 

Unfortunately, there are some individuals who do not see the value of such life resulting in animal abuse, cruelty and neglect, which occur far too often, leading to unnecessary pain and suffering to animals. 

As research indicates, violence against animals is a bridge crime that can, and has, led to violence against people.

That’s why the FBI has animal cruelty as a top tier Group A offense in its crime reporting statistics. 

A clear example of that is the individual who poured kerosene on Buster the cat in Schenectady that inspired passage of Buster’s Law in 1999, which created the felony crime of animal cruelty in New York State punishable by up to two years in jail and a $5,000 fine. This individual later was imprisoned for various crimes, including attempted rape, sexual abuse and unlawful imprisonment of a 12-year-old girl. 

While we’ve made great strides in raising awareness of the public safety dangers of animal cruelty posed to pets and people since Buster’s Law was enacted, we still have miles to go to keep all members of our family safe.

We seem to be witnessing what law enforcement has told me is an epidemic of shocking animal cruelty cases. 

Last year, two people allegedly tortured and set a pit bull puppy on fire in a crate in a church parking lot in Albany.

Last month, the owner of “A Time for Paws” doggy daycare and boarding facility in Halfmoon was indicted under Buster’s Law with allegedly killing a French bulldog named Gus by leaving him out in the sweltering heat.

A Canajoharie man also was charged with deliberately hitting a kitten with his pickup truck. And in Washington County, 21 dogs died at a boarding facility where the two owners are now facing animal neglect charges. 

Every one of these cases is heartbreaking and preventable.

Saratoga County recently became the 30th county in New York State to have its own animal abuse registry. Fulton County also started its own registry last year. Meanwhile, the town of Rotterdam is planning to create its own town-wide registry, and I applaud the leaders of all these municipalities for their efforts.

While these are positive steps, we need a holistic statewide registry of animal abusers as I am sponsoring bipartisan legislation for (S.1563).

In the absence of statewide action, what we have now in New York is a “Wild West” approach of uncoordinated local animal abuse laws which amount to a mishmash of wildly different county registries while more than half of our state’s counties have chosen to do nothing.

This failure by our state to act enables “outlaw” animal abusers to go to neighboring towns and counties that don’t have their own registries to get an animal. It’s a total mess.

My bipartisan statewide animal abuse registry legislation contains the names and addresses of persons convicted of animal abuse in New York and makes it accessible to the public and those involved in the sale or adoption of an animal (shelters, rescues and breeders) so they can refer to it before allowing an individual to take ownership of an animal.

I’m heartened that many animal rescues and shelters such as the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society are supporting my statewide registry legislation.

As I’ve often said, having a companion animal is not a right, it’s a privilege, but our pets and people have a right to be safe from abuse and neglect.

What you don’t know can hurt you and the pets and people we love. That’s why we need a statewide registry of animal abusers.