State animal cruelty offender database is live, local shelter says it needs work

FORT MYERS, Fla — A new statewide animal cruelty database is now live in Florida. It is part of a new law and lists the names of people convicted of aggravated animal cruelty. However, a local shelter says it doesn't fully help them.

Fox 4 Fort Myers Community Correspondent Austin Schargorodski spoke with the director of Gulf Coast Humane Society, who says the database is supposed to help shelters keep animals out of the wrong hands, but right now, it falls short.

When an animal shelter sends an adopted animal home with someone, they try to make sure it is going to a good home. Gulf Coast Humane Society said it already does extensive background checks.

“We do a lot of screening here at Gulf Coast Humane Society, and this is a new tool for us to be able to use,” said Executive Director Darcy Andrade.

Andrade said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's (FDLE) managed database helps fill a gap by flagging people who may have been convicted somewhere else in Florida and later moved to the area. But she said there is a problem: only first and last names are listed.

“As you can see with the list of the database, a lot of these are very, very common names,” Andrade said. “They might be John Smith. There’s ten John Smiths who’ve been convicted of some sort of crime that we may potentially deny them for. They potentially could miss out on a good home for somebody if they see that same name on this list, because there are no identifiers listed other than a name.”

“You know, my view is this tool should be used for anybody who has a pet that they need to re-home,” Andrade said. “But without additional information in there, I don’t see that being possible at this time.”

Andrade said adding basic identifiers like a date of birth, a middle initial, or even the county where the crime happened would make a big difference. The law only requires a name to be included on the database.

Schargorodski reached out to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the lawmakers who sponsored the bill to ask if any changes are planned.

He talked with Representative Chaney — the only lawmaker to reply. Rep. Chaney is the bill’s sponsor. She said FDLE partially misinterpreted what her office wanted with the bill, and that FDLE said it's more complex than it appears.

However, the House bill only said names need to be on the list.

Rep. Chaney said they’re listening to feedback and changes are on the horizon.

“We want the arrest photo. We want the county. We want DOB. We want all the identifiers you have suggested and are obviously needed to differentiate the John Smith’s of the world,” said Chaney.

Rep. Chaney said FDLE is currently working on those changes and her office will have a timeline update next week.