St. Bernard Parish Representative MICHAEL BAYHAM (photo courtesy of Michael Bayham)
Like every other state across the country, Louisiana has a sex offender registry. Now, Chalmette Republican Representative Mike Bayham wants to create a registry for those who abuse animals.
Bayham said the purpose of his bill is to allow those who sell animals to make informed decisions.
“It gives people a little bit of assurance that when they either sell or give away an animal to a private individual, that they have an opportunity to verify that the animal is not going to be abused,” Bayham said.
Bayham said registration would only be required for those convicted of certain offenses, including cruelty to animals, dogfighting, injuring or killing of a police animal, sexual abuse of an animal or cockfighting.
“They have no business having another animal, and if they are seeking an animal, they’re probably looking to do harm to another animal,” Bayham said.
Registration would only be required for:
- Sexual abuse of an animal
- Human-animal hybrids
- Cruelty to animals; simple and aggravated
- Dogfighting; training and possession of dogs for fighting
- Injuring or killing of a police animal
- Cockfighting
Those who fail to register would face a fine of up to $1,000 and up to one year in prison. Bayham said it’s his way of protecting the pet population.
“It’s up to us to try to step up and make sure that our pets and other animals aren’t being harmed by sadistic individuals,” Bayham said.
The Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information would be tasked with maintaining the registry.
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