Abusers Near You?

Wouldn’t you want to know if a violent or repeat animal abuser were living next door to you and your family? Animal abusers are five times more likely to commit violent crimes against people and four times more likely to commit property crimes than are individuals without a history of animal abuse.

Convicted animal abusers pose a real, ongoing threat to your pets, your family, and your community. The Animal Legal Defense Fund’s proposed abuser registry legislation would require mandatory registration and community notification for convicted animal abusers. These laws would make a dramatic difference in keeping offenders away from potential new victims by allowing animal shelters and humane societies to more thoroughly screen potential adopters—and by alerting the public to their whereabouts.

Warning: These summaries may contain graphic details.

	Shon Rahrig While living in Ohio in 1999, Rahrig allegedly adopted several cats and a puppy from local shelters and tortured them sadistically. He poked out the eyes of a cat named Misty, broke her legs and jaw, cut off her paws, and left her bleeding in a laundry basket. Rahrig was forbidden to own an animal for five years, but he was subsequently seen at an adoption event in California, where he relocated. More...
	Heidi Erickson In 2003, Boston authorities removed dozens of dead cats and several more who were near death from Heidi Erickson’s home, along with a Great Dane so emaciated he was unable to walk. In 2009, Erickson resurfaced in Plymouth, and authorities concerned about possible animal neglect removed 11 severely neglected cats and the Great Dane from her home. More...
	Robert Rydzewski In 2004, the then 29-year-old Robert Rydzewski shot his neighbor’s dog Mollie in the face twice, claiming she was going after him and his rabbits. Two months later, he killed another neighbor’s Welsh Corgi, named Sis, with an ax, resulting in yet another charge of torturing and killing a domestic animal. More...
	Craig Boyd In June 2000, sanitation workers found five dead dogs in trash cans outside Craig Boyd’s home. Police raided the residence and found a basement area allegedly used for dogfight training. In April 2001, Boyd was arrested again for cruelty to animals. In another raid in December 2004, Chicago Police arrested Boyd yet again at his residence. More...
	Alexander Gregor After beating his dog, Jake, Alexander Gregor shot him in the head with a pellet gun and submerged his head underwater in the bathtub until he died. Just days after Jake’s death, Gregor adopted a German shepherd-mix puppy from another animal rescue group; he allegedly threw the puppy, Tag, against the floor until he died. More...
	Noel Guido-Silva After a night of partying, Noel Guido-Silva and another ranch hand raced their car and truck, chased down and killed Gentle Song, a 23-year-old mare owned by a 13-year-old girl, who was in a fenced pasture. Six years later, in 2009, Guido-Silva was convicted of one count of felony Force with a Deadly Weapon. More...
	Vikki Kittles Since 1982, Vikki Kittles has been run out of Florida, Mississippi, Colorado, and Washington for hoarding animals. In 1993, Kittles faced charges in Oregon when she was discovered keeping 115 sick and dying dogs crammed into a school bus. She has gone on to hoard animals again in Oregon and other states several times since. More...
	Joshua Coman In 2008, a Wichita woman heard someone break into her garage. When she went to check on the noise, she discovered 20-year-old Joshua Coman sexually assaulting her four-year-old Rottweiler. Coman was already on probation after pleading guilty to assaulting another dog in a neighboring county in 2007. More...
	Jeffrey Dahmer Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was sent to prison in 1992 for murdering and cannibalizing at least 17 people in a Milwaukee killing spree between 1978 and 1991. As a child, he would capture animals and torture them, impaling frogs, cats, and dogs’ heads on sticks. More...