CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — Chesapeake City Council recently approved a move to make Hampton Roads' first online animal cruelty registry.
Councilmember Amanda Newins said the goal is to prevent people convicted of felony animal abuse from getting animals in their hands again.
"I used to be a prosecutor in Chesapeake prosecuting cases of animal cruelty, and then I've been a volunteer and a foster through area shelters," Newins said, "so it's always been something important to me."
That's why Newins pushed for Chesapeake to become the first city in Hampton Roads to create a registry.
"It'll be listed on our city website under Chesapeake Animal Services," Newins said. "There'll be a link there, it's open to the public and it will include anyone who has been convicted of felony animal cruelty."
Newins explained that Chesapeake joins other localities like Henrico County that have their own version of this registry.
Localities were able to do so after the state passed a law in 2024 that let them create their own.
"It's no different than the sex offender registry that exists through the Virginia State Police, but now we're capturing people who abuse animals," Newins said.
The Chesapeake Police Department will be responsible for maintaining the registry. According to city documents, the cost to create the registry would be minimal.
Newins added that other area shelters can also use this resource once it's up and running, and she's had conversations with Virginia Beach Councilmember Michael Berlucchi about them adopting their own as well.
"A lot of times when you're convicted of a felony, there comes with it a mandate you're not allowed to possess animals," Newins said. "But even if there isn't, it's important that shelters, rescues, even private citizens who are rehoming their pets, know that this person is someone who has abused animals in the past."
Newins said there will be a petition process for people who would want their names removed.
"It's not going to be automatic," Newins said. "So there'd have to be, obviously, instances of error, or there's a time limit of how long you can publish somebody's name on this registry."
She also addressed concerns people might have for these details being put into an online publicly-available database.
"All the information when people are convicted of a crime is public," Newins said. "It's all on the Virginia court's website, so anyone can access who's been convicted of a crime. So I think this is just basically putting all that information together, making it easier to be utilized."
Newins said the registry is 30 to 60 days out from being live.
She also plans to advocate for it to eventually include misdemeanor offenses as well.
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