Louisville's animal abuse offenders will be listed on a registry similar to public lists of sex offenders under a newly approved city rule meant to prevent abusers from owning future pets.

Councilman Brandon Coan, D-8th District, who sponsored the ordinance approved Thursday, said such registries are a law enforcement tool growing in popularity, and that Louisville's will help address Kentucky's worst-in-the-nation animal protection laws.

"Basically, the question is, should we have a registry like we have for sex offenders for animal abusers? It's a pretty straightforward question," Coan said after the vote.

"People that commit heinous crimes against animals — that are awful in themselves, they make you cringe — also are the same people that abuse children, or abuse their spouses, or shoot up schools, in the worst examples."

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Under the proposal, someone who is convicted of a violent animal abuse offense under state law or pleads guilty to such a crime will be required to be on a public list maintained by Louisville Metro Animal Services for two years.

The registry will include the offender's name, age, address, current photograph and a description of the crime or crimes committed, according to the ordinance. It will be developed by the city's department of information technology, Coan said, at no extra cost to the city.

Pet stores and shelters, along with other licensees laid out in city rules, will be required to check the registry before allowing someone to adopt or buy a pet — "not much different, in my opinion, than checking someone's ID to make sure they're 21 years old before you sell them alcohol," Coan said.

Offenders on the registry will be required to pay $100 annually, but it can be waived by Louisville Metro Animal Services if that person has financial hardships. Those fees are expected to help cover the roughly $750 annual web-hosting fee expected for the registry, Coan said.

The ordinance was approved in a 16-4 vote.

Republicans Kevin Kramer, R-11th; Scott Reed, R-16th; Anthony Piagentini, R-19th; and Stuart Benson, R-20th, voted no. Three others — Marilyn Parker, R-18th; Robin Engel, R-22nd; and James Peden, R-23rd — voted present.

The new legislation goes into effect in 180 days.

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For twelve years in a row, Kentucky has ranked last in the country for its regulations protecting animals, according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, which judges state laws based on how comprehensive and strong they are.

A 2018 report points out what the legal defense fund considers several weak spots in Kentucky's current law, including: no felony provision for neglect or abandonment, inadequate definitions of basic care, no statutory authority for protective orders to include animals and no restrictions on future ownership of animals following a conviction, among others.

Those who support registries, which have been proposed in a number of states and municipalities, say such lists can raise red flags about people who may commit other violent crimes, according to the Associated Press. Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and the Columbine High School shooters all had histories of hurting animals before they went on to target humans.

But animal welfare groups are somewhat divided on the issue.

The national American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says in a position statement that while the intention behind registries is noble, they do little in practice to protect animals, and can carry unintended consequences.

And last year, Leighann Lassiter, of the Humane Society of the United States, told the AP that while her organization agrees with the motivation behind registries, it’s already possible to do a nationwide criminal background check on a potential pet adopter, which would reveal not only cruelty convictions, but also other violent crimes

Similar measures have passed the counties that encompass Chicago and Tampa, Florida, as well as Nassau County on New York's Long Island and the state of Tennessee.

A bill proposed this legislative session in Kentucky didn't move forward.

Councilman Brent Ackerson, D-26th, praised Coan for bringing the ordinance forward, calling it "important," particularly given research that shows animal abusers move on to greater offenses and animals' vulnerable status.

"They give love, they suffer, they have compassion, they have empathy. In so many ways, they are some of the most vulnerable members of the world we live in," Ackerson said.

Darcy Costello: 502-582-4834; dcostello@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @dctello. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/darcyc.