Saratoga County Adopts Animal Abuse Registry

At the most recent Board of Supervisors meeting, Saratoga County passed legislation that would create a county wide animal abuse registry. 

Under the law, someone would have to register with the District Attorney if they are convicted of one of 17 offenses related to animal abuse within 10 days of conviction or release from incarceration. Those convicted are required to provide a head shot, name, alias and address to the registry. 

For first time offenders, their name will be on the registry for 15 years while any subsequent offenses will result in permanent admission to the registry. If someone is on the registry, then they are barred from purchasing or adopting any animals in Saratoga County. Failure to follow the law can result in a $1000 fine for both the abuser and those who sell animals to them. 

The bill was passed unanimously by the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors. In his remarks, Chairman of the Board, Phillip Barrett from Clifton Park called the move a “critical first step” in addressing the issue of animal abuse and encouraged the state and other counties to adopt similar legislation. 

The registry also received heavy support from Republican District Attorney Candidate Brett Eby, one of three people who spoke during a Sept. 10 public hearing on the bill. He, alongside Mechanicville Animal Control Officer Lynn Meager spoke in favor of the legislation and talked about the issue of animal abuse. 

Meager told a heart-breaking story about finding a great dane in a moving truck that only weighed 30 pounds — far below the normal weight of between 110-175 pounds. 

The legislation comes after several high-profile incidents in Saratoga County. This year alone there have been at least seven incidents of animal abuse in the county resulting in Saratoga County residents being charged with over 200 counts of abuse. 

Saratoga County isn’t the first county to implement an animal abuse registry. 20 counties —including Albany and Rensselaer — plus New York City all maintain registries of animal abusers. 

On the state level, there is currently a bill introduced that would create a state registry of animal abusers. The bill is sponsored by Senators Pete Harckham (D, WF- 40) of South Salem and Anthony Palumbo (R- 1) of New Suffolk and was referred to committee in May. 

In addition, Sen. James Tedisco — who represents Saratoga County — also proposed several bills in January which would strengthen New York’s animal abuse law known as “Buster’s Law.” All of those bills have been referred to committee with no action taken since January.