This is Yossi. You can follow him on Instragram at yossi_the_doodle
Orange County became the most recent county in New York State to require those convicted of animal abuse crimes to register in a database. Orange County calls this requirement Rocky’s Law, named after a dog that was left by its owners outside in the snow for five weeks without food or water. The law requires all convicted animal abusers to register within five days of being convicted or released from incarceration.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office will keep record of the name, all aliases, address, date of birth, and a photograph of all registrants. Each registrant must pay a fee of $125.00 at the time of registration. Registration must be updated annually and whenever an address change occurs within Orange County. The offenders are required to stay registered for 15 years and any subsequent conviction requires registration in the animal abuse registry for life.
Rocky’s Law also prohibits animal shelters and pet sellers from transferring ownership of any animal to someone on the registry. They are required to check the registry before making any change in ownership to ensure that the new owner is not listed on there. It is against this statute for offenders to have animals or be in contact with animals in any form.
Any offender who fails to register for is guilty of a misdemeanor, which is punishable by incarceration for up to one year and/or a fine up to $2,000.00. An offender who violates prohibition against possessing or contacting animals will be guilty of a misdemeanor that is punishable by incarceration up to one year and/or a fine up to $5,000.00. An animal shelter or pet seller that fails to check registry and provides ownership of an animal to a registrant will be guilty of a violation and subject to a fine of up to $5,000.00.
Rincker Law, PLLC works on animal law cases – both with litigation and mediation. Cari is licensed in the Tri-state area and Illinois. She works on both companion animal, livestock and equine law matters.