Remembering how cold the Indiana winter has been makes Leah Gossett shudder. The thought of her cat, Navi, facing those conditions as a kitten, causes her voice to crack as she says, “I just don’t get how someone could like, disregard a life like that. I mean, I get it’s not a human –but still.” That cold evening was almost a year ago, and now the two are almost inseparable.

Gossett rescued the kitten from freezing conditions when it was just about five weeks old. She then bottle-fed it back to health. Gossett never found the man who abused the kitten and its mother. She isn’t sure what she would do if she did discover his identity. “I mean I’d tell the police but, like, what would they do at this point?” she asked.

In the state of Indiana animal cruelty is currently defined as “intentionally beating a vertebrate animal”. A substantial amount of evidence is needed to make a conviction. If found guilty, the individual faces a fine and, possibly, jail time depending on the level of abuse. But nothing in the law forbids that person to purchase another cat or dog, even the very next day.

Indiana lawmakers are making the effort to change this situation by proposing the installment of an online animal abuser registry. The animal abuse registry would be similar to the one currently in place for sex offenders. The registry would provide a description of the abuse, the name, age, and last known location of the abuser, and a recent picture of the abuser. The name of anyone convicted of animal abuse, neglect, or cruelty would be placed on the list. Other states, including Tennessee, have adopted similar databases.

The author of Bill 432, Senator J.D. Ford, hopes that by creating this database, an extra tool would be made available to shelters and rescues when searching to find the animals a new, safe home.

For example, a three-legged dog who was shot in the leg and beaten by her owner, needs a safe, new home. The dog was rescued and taken to the shelter for emergency care, and now resides in the Bloomington Shelter. (Because of fear of the owner, the shelter has asked that the animal’s name not be mentioned.)

Indiana shelter volunteer program director, Jenny Gibson, explains that she often sees animal abuse, here in Monroe County and that it is by far the worst part of her job. “The one saving grace is that when the dogs get here- or cats- we have the control of the situation and can get them the help that they need,” says Gibson.

The proposed bills could also play a role in protecting people. According to the United States Humane Society, more than 75 percent of those individuals who harm their animals eventually harm other people, as well.

“Not only do we need to take animal cruelty seriously, but keeping an animal abuse registry would also help illuminate the link between animal abuse and violence towards humans. Intentional animal cruelty can be a sign of psychological distress, and many times will identify individuals who are predisposed to committing acts of domestic violence,” said Senator Ford.

Senator Ford’s Bill, along with Senate Bill 505 authored by James Merritt, and House Bill 1576, have been assigned to Senate Judiciary committees, but hearing dates have not yet been scheduled.