Tennessee 1st State to Register Animal Abusers (Hohenwald: section 8, renters)

[Drift Away]

This is great news!

Tennessee Will Soon Have First Statewide Animal Abuse Registry

[MetropolitanTN]

I agree! Great news!

[danielj72]

I truly hope it does prevent some animal abuse but I kind of doubt that people who hurt animals use shelters to obtain them. It is kind of like people who believing that criminals will follow new gun control laws, more wishful thinking. I cant stand people who are cruel to animals and we need to punish them severely for what they do. (jail) It is a known connection that exists between animal cruelty and violent behavior toward other people. As a lifelong pet owner I cannot fathom how anyone can inflict intentional cruelty toward animals who depend on their owners. Neglect is more based in ignorance, but outright cruelty is inexcusable. I hope this new law ends up being more than just a feel good law, only time will tell.

[jchometeam]

We know that the sex offender registry hasn't really had much of an impact on recidivism rates (recidivism rates have always been very low regardless of the registry), and I imagine that this registry will likewise not have much impact. The biggest impact (just like the sex offender registry) is a warm and fuzzy feeling that we are trying to do something about the problem. I guess that is important to some people

[Normashirley]

^^^*Pretty much this, sorry to say

My fingers would cramp up telling some of the repeated neglect and/or abuse that I have seen and I know real from perceived. There are people who thought I was abusing my horses by "forcing" them to wear fly face masks. At least they asked me instead of calling Animal Control and wasting tax dollars by making them pay me a visit for something nearly every horse owner kindly puts on their horses during the fly season.

About all the registry will do is to alert folks to keep an eye on these people for further offenses, then turn them in. Once an abuser always an abuser - they, the abusers, need neutered or spayed, without anesthetic, IMHO.

[meo92953]

I still feel such pain & sorrow for my lovely little pekineese (sp). I lived in a neighborhood that had 1 section 8 house. I would not have even known that because it wasn't until a nice, quiet family moved & the next 2 renters were just awful. One had children that would steal things right out of your yard, the 2nd had I don't know how many older teenage males who were loud & obnoxious.

I used to walk my dog before & after work, every day. The teenage males would make fun of him all the time. One day my dog started licking a tree and my attention was focused on a little league game in the park. I did become aware of his licking, assumed he'd found something to eat & pulled him away.

It was too late. I didn't realize how sick he was until I found him in the morning, listless. I rushed him to the vet but it was too late. I couldn't prove anything although the vet said it looked like he'd ingested antifreeze. I couldn't have proved it was the teenagers so I had to let it go.

Maybe if there was, or had been, a law that posted offenders someone who maybe saw what happened could or would have reported it.

[meo92953]

One more reason Tennessee stays at the top of my retirement list.

[Serious Conversation]

It's well overdue, considering the amount of dogfighting in the state, particularly in Cocke County.

[Geneyus]

Originally Posted by jchometeam

We know that the sex offender registry hasn't really had much of an impact on recidivism rates (recidivism rates have always been very low regardless of the registry), and I imagine that this registry will likewise not have much impact. The biggest impact (just like the sex offender registry) is a warm and fuzzy feeling that we are trying to do something about the problem. I guess that is important to some people

Lowering recidivism rates isn't the only goal of the registry. Schools use it to keep bad people out, neighbors use it to know who to keep their children away from, employers use it to keep bad people away from children (day cares), etc. No, the registry didn't solve the problem of recidivism, but it did help in other areas, A LOT.

The same will be said for this new animal registry. It won't stop people from abusing animals, but if it keeps bad people from adopting animals, I'm all for it. Every little bit helps.

[Normashirley]

Before they can be placed on the registry, they first have to be charged.

This case is currently in the news. As of this morning's 5:30 AM news, no charges are currently being filed

8 Horses, Donkey Rescued In Hohenwald - Story

Three horses were already dead when the rescuers got to the property.

The horses and donkey that are at a body score of one or near it, would probably be better off being PTS'd.

I have rescued horses and dogs. There is a LOT more to helping these horses than just getting weight back on them. One never knows how their vital organs will be affected, when they are so emaciated, they are nothing but walking skeletons.

The worst horse cases I ever rescued was body scores of two and three. The vet said, if the Two made it thru the night, he stood a chance of surviving. Thankfully he did but there were unplanned vet bills that, thankfully I was in a position to pay for.

The Body Score three horse, stayed with me 22 years. He was 29 when I laid him to rest last May. He had permanent vertebra injury that cost me a lifetime of vet/chiropractic work, after I got him fattened up. He was never able to be ridden by an adult but he turned out to be a fantastic lesson horse for small children and a pasture pet on his downtime from giving children happy horse memories.


Yet the worthless excuse of a human who owned the horses in the above link , "is not currentlyy facing charges".

To repeat myself, if they don't get charged, they can't be placed on the registry. "Not being charged" seems to be more commonplace in Tennessee than many would think. I have seen beef cattle starved and freeze to death and it took an act of congress to get legal action against the very rich guy who was a serious drug user and kept forgetting to make sure the cattle had hay and water, during one particularly harsh winter.

In theory, the new registry requirement is a good thing. In practical application, not so much if charges don't get levied against the perpetrator in the above link-----------