Florida lawmakers push for animal abuser registry, already in Lee County

LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Geri Cerilli adopted her dog Benson from Lee County Domestic Animal Services and dedicates her time to make sure animals in Lee County receive fair treatment.

Sadly, Cerilli has seen and heard a lot of awful stories about animal cruelty.

"Animal abuse is a horrible thing. Everybody should be very careful about having the animal abuse registry out to every county because people deserve to know that's the bottom line," Cerilli said.

She referred to Senate Bill 494. It would require each county in Florida to create an animal abuser registry.

Lee County started an animal abuser registry in 2023. You can find people on the site who have been convicted of animal abuse. It works like a sex offender registry.

Linda Shellmer-Klemme works with Cerilli to protect animal rights. She said this bill is a step in the right direction.

"The bottom line is it helps protect these poor little things from these horrible people," Shellmer Klemme said.

In Lee county, the local ordinance that created the animal abuser registry doesn't allow shelters or pet sellers to give an animal to an abuser on the list.

However, Shelmer-Klemme said there's no way to know if people check the registry which, she said, is a problem.

"If you don't have a plan in place to enforce it that makes sense, it's purely recreational, which is sad," she said.

Lieutenant Richard Castellon is on the Lee County Sheriff's Office animal cruelty task force.

Hear from the Sheriff's animal cruelty task force in Lee County Community Correspondent Ella Rhoades' report:

He said the system runs like that, because they don't want anyone to have difficulty accessing the information.

Lt. Castellon said, "Honor system. Do the right thing right. If you care for animals, you'll be on their best interest and you won't sell animals or adopt an animal to someone who's already been charged with animal abuse."

He added that last year, the department responded to 2,539 animal related calls. Lt. Castellon said studies show people who abuse animals are more likely to abuse people.

Lt. Castellon said the registry helped reduce the number of cruelty cases. LCSO added that the registry also helps with enforcing other crime since offenders might own weapons, drugs and other illegal items.

"Hopefully, our influence, what we've been able to do whether it is motivating other counties to follow suit, and hopefully yes, we can get this at some point not only at the state but national," he said.

If the bill passes and goes into law, we could see an abuser registry in every county next summer.