Tennessee
is the first state in the nation to establish a statewide animal abuse
registry. Beginning January 1, 2016, Tennessee will launch its registry as
required by a state law enacted this past spring (Senate
Bill 1204, effective May 8, 2015). The Tennessee
Bureau of Investigation (TBI) will maintain the publicly accessible
registry, which will include convicted animal abusers’ names and photographs.
Under the law, registrants will have been convicted of aggravated cruelty to
animals, felony animal fighting, or certain sex crimes involving animals. A
registrant remains on the registry for two years following the date of a first
conviction and five years following a subsequent conviction. For more
information about the new law and registry, see TBI’s website.
Also, click here
to read an OLR report on the new law.
