Every person on the registry was convicted in a U.S. court — a guilty plea or a jury verdict. Photos, conviction facts, sentences, known areas, and source links for all 21 convicted offenders.
View The Registry — Convicted →
The Cruz Watch
An animal-abuser registry — public court records & published reporting only
Entries verified Oct 4, 2026
An animal abuser shouldn’t get to move in quietly.
When someone is convicted of torturing or killing an animal, that conviction is public record — but public records don’t knock on doors. This registry pulls together convicted offenders from court records and published reporting, with the source linked on every entry, so shelters, rescues, breeders, and neighbors can know who they’re dealing with before an animal pays for it.
People charged but not yet convicted are kept on a separate watch list, clearly labeled. Nobody here is listed on an accusation alone.
3 yrs
Maximum prison time for felony animal cruelty in California (Penal Code §597) — plus a $20,000 fine
2010
Suffolk County, NY creates the nation’s first official animal-abuser registry
15 yrs
Sentence handed to Rodney Travis Jr. in 2026 — the largest animal-cruelty sentence in Virginia history
The petition
Sign the petition
Our petition to the California Legislature: make it law that anyone convicted of felony animal cruelty has their name, photo, and home address published in a public online registry — like Megan’s Law, but for animals. Right now, no database in America will even give you their ZIP code.
Comments
Share your thoughts. All comments are reviewed before they appear — nothing posts automatically.Check your neighborhood
Type in your ZIP code. If a convicted animal abuser on this registry is listed near you, they come up on the map — like an alert for your block.
Red pin — convicted
Amber pin — charged, not convicted (watch list)
Black dot — the ZIP you searched
Pins show the city/area from public records. For the offenders on this registry, the official sources publish a city or area — not a street address — and that’s the gap this site exists to close. Click any pin for the person’s photo and record, or pick a name in the list to fly to it.
The rules of this registry
These rules are what keep the registry credible — and keep it standing when someone listed here complains.
1
Convicted only
The main registry lists people convicted of animal cruelty — a guilty plea or a jury verdict. People who are only charged appear on the watch list — the Charged — Not Convicted page — labeled as such, until a court decides.
2
Every entry is sourced
Each card links to the court coverage or reputable reporting it is drawn from. If a fact isn’t in a public source, it isn’t on the card. Where a verified public booking photo exists — published by law enforcement or carried in reputable coverage of the case — it is printed on the entry itself, with its source credited under the photo. Where no photo could be verified, the card says so; no substitutes, ever.
3
Addresses from public record
Where an official public source — a government registry or database, a court record, or a law-enforcement release — publishes a convicted offender’s address, this registry shows it, labeled “Address (public record)” with the publishing source and the date it was reported. Addresses are never taken from people-search sites, data brokers, or social media. Where no official source publishes one, the entry stays at city and state and says so.
4
Corrections come down fast
If a conviction is overturned, vacated, or expunged, the entry is removed. If we got a fact wrong, we fix it and note the fix. A registry that won’t correct itself deserves to be ignored.
The lists
The registry has grown too big for one page, so each list now has its own tab at the top of the site.People who have been charged but not convicted, kept on a separate watch list and clearly labeled as such. They are presumed innocent unless a court finds otherwise.
View Cases We’re Watching →The registry — convicted
Twenty-one offenders. Each was convicted in a U.S. court; sentences and conditions are as reported at sentencing. A verified public photo is printed on the card where one exists. Entries verified Oct 4, 2026.No convicted entries match that search. Try a name, a city, or clear the state filter.
Cases we’re watching
Charged, not convicted. This site is named The Cruz Watch for Adrian Cruz — the Sacramento case that started it. Cases here are tracked until a plea or verdict moves them to The Registry — Convicted — or the charges are dropped and they come off this page entirely.
Charged — not convicted
Everyone on this page has been charged with a crime but has NOT been convicted.
They are presumed innocent unless and until a court finds them guilty. Nothing on
this page is a finding of guilt — these are pending cases, tracked until a plea or
verdict moves them to The Registry — Convicted, or the charges are dropped and
they come off this page entirely.
She was a senior neighborhood cat — half-blind and deaf — living out her last years at a Sacramento spot where neighbors fed the strays. On April 21, 2026, a homeowner’s security camera recorded Adrian Cruz beating her to death there. She couldn’t see him coming, and she couldn’t hear him. The Cruz Watch exists so that what happened to her — and the name of the man charged with doing it — never quietly disappears.
For the victims
This registry is about names on cards. This section is about the lives behind them.Every registry entry started with an animal who trusted people, or who had no way to get away from them. They could not call for help, testify, or warn anyone else. Remembering them — by name where we know it — is the reason this page exists. We write about what happened only as far as it helps people recognize and stop cruelty; the point here is dignity, not detail.
The senior cat of Sacramento
She was senior, half-blind, and deaf — a neighborhood cat living out her last years where kind people fed the strays. Neighbors knew her. She is the reason this site is called The Cruz Watch. The man charged in her killing has not been convicted; her story is told in full in the statement above, and we will keep her here whatever the court decides.
Dexter
Adopted from Pinellas County Animal Services in May 2024, Dexter was a gentle dog who, shelter workers said, mostly wanted cuddle time. He was killed four days after his adoption. His case moved Florida to create Dexter’s Law — a statewide database of convicted abusers and stronger sentences for aggravated cruelty — so his name now protects other shelter dogs.
Kiya — “Puppy Doe”
Found barely alive near a playground on August 31, 2013, Kiya had endured prolonged abuse and had to be euthanized that day. The veterinarian who examined her said she still wanted to be held. Her case drew national attention, helped push Massachusetts to strengthen its cruelty laws, and remains one of the cases prosecutors point to when they argue cruelty does not stop with one animal.
Reba
Reba was found sealed in a container in extreme summer heat in 2024. Rescuers got her out and fought for her, but she died of heatstroke. Nevada answered with Reba’s Law (2025), making severe abuse a Class B felony carrying up to six years — a law that carries her name into every future case in the state.
The nineteen cats in the Travis case
Prosecutors identified 19 cats by name; at least six died. They were used in online videos paired with false stories to solicit donations. We do not list their individual names here because the reporting did not publish them all — but in court, they were not numbers. They were named, one by one.
The Chihuahua puppy in Sacramento
A tiny Chihuahua puppy killed in a case a Sacramento jury decided in 2016. A neighbor’s tip — and a $5,000 reward offered by the Animal Legal Defense Fund — led investigators to the man convicted of killing her. Her case is a reminder, in this site’s own hometown, that one person speaking up can be the whole case.
Jinx & Stella — the survivors
Not every story here ends in loss. Jinx, a five-month-old puppy in Harris County, survived strangulation and a shattered leg that required partial amputation, recovered fully, and was adopted into a new home. Stella, a nine-year-old golden retriever in Martin County, survived a beating caught on camera and, a year later, was photographed doing very well with her owner by the ocean. Their abusers are on The Registry — Convicted — and they are home.
The 78 dogs rescued in Alabama
Seventy-eight pit bull–type dogs were rescued from a dog-fighting operation — at the time, the second-largest rescue from a single defendant in any federal case. They were cared for through a U.S. Marshals Service program, rehabilitated, and evaluated for adoption instead of being returned. Rescue is part of justice, too.
And all the unnamed
For every case on this page there are animals whose names were never in a newspaper — strays, barn cats, dogs behind fences no one looked over. If you feed a colony, walk a route, or notice a yard on your street, you may be the only record they ever get. See something, write it down, report it. The next section tells you how.
Names and details above are drawn from the same sourced reporting linked on each registry card. If you knew one of these animals and have a correction or a photo you would like considered for this section, use the submission link at the bottom of the page.
If you witness cruelty
You do not need to be sure it is a crime to report it. That determination is the officer’s job — yours is to be a good witness.
1
If an animal is in immediate danger, call 911
An attack in progress, an animal trapped in a hot car, or a person actively harming an animal is an emergency — call 911 first, before you film or do anything else. If a person is threatening you, leave and call from safety.
2
Document safely — from a distance
Do not confront the person and do not trespass. From where you are legally allowed to be: note the date, time, and exact location; describe the animal and what is happening; take video or photos if you can do so safely. In the Cruz case and in the Stella case, one camera was the entire case.
3
Call animal control / non-emergency police
For neglect or cruelty that is not an emergency in progress, call your local animal control or humane law enforcement, or police on their non-emergency line. Ask for the report or incident number and write it down, so you can follow up.
4
Follow up — and keep your records
Keep your original photos and video (don’t only post them to social media). If nothing changes, call again and reference your earlier report number. A pattern of dated reports is often what turns a warning into a prosecution.
Sacramento — our home example
Sacramento County Animal Care Services (Bradshaw Animal Shelter)
3839 Bradshaw Road, Sacramento, CA 95827
- Emergency: 911
- Report animal issues — stray, cruelty / neglected animals: (916) 368-7387 (PETS), select Option 3 — operators Mon–Fri, 7 a.m.–7 p.m. per the county site
- General / live operator: 311, or (916) 875-4311 from outside the unincorporated county
- County Report a Problem: Animal Abuse line listed as 916-368-7387
- Online: Sacramento County Animal Care — Contact Us
Live outside Sacramento County? Search “[your county] animal control report cruelty” — almost every county has the same structure: 911 for emergencies, animal control for investigation, and a non-emergency police line in between.
Know the law — California
California Penal Code §597 is the state’s main animal-cruelty law. In plain terms:
- It covers anyone who maliciously and intentionally maims, mutilates, tortures, wounds, or kills a living animal, and anyone who deprives an animal of necessary food, drink, or shelter or subjects it to needless suffering.
- It is a “wobbler” — prosecutors can file it as a misdemeanor or a felony depending on severity, intent, number of animals, and prior record.
- Misdemeanor: up to 1 year in county jail and/or a fine of up to $20,000.
- Felony: 16 months, 2 years, or up to 3 years, and/or a fine of up to $20,000 — per count. Multiple animals or counts can stack.
- Courts can also order animals removed, restitution for care, and bans on owning animals — advocates in the Cruz case are asking for the maximum term plus a lifetime ban.
This is general information, not legal advice. Other states differ — Florida’s Dexter’s Law, Nevada’s Reba’s Law, and the federal PACT Act (which makes extreme cruelty a federal crime) all grew out of individual cases named on this page.
Official registries already exist
Governments got here first in a few places. If you live in one of these jurisdictions, your local registry is the authoritative list — use it.Suffolk County, New York
The nation’s first animal-abuser registry (2010), run by the Suffolk County SPCA. Convicted offenders register their name, address, and photo for five years; shelters and pet stores check it before adopting out an animal.
More New York jurisdictions
Albany, Rockland, and Westchester counties and New York City followed. Albany lists offenders for ten years after a first offense and for life after a subsequent one, and anyone transferring an animal must check the registry first.
Tennessee
One of the first statewide registries, listing people convicted of felony animal cruelty so rescues and sellers anywhere in the state can screen against one list.
Henrico County, Virginia
A public county Animal Cruelty Registry for serious cruelty convictions — Rodney Travis Jr. (above) was ordered onto it as part of his plea, alongside a lifetime ban on owning or contacting animals.
Cook County, Illinois
Maintains an animal abuser list used by Chicago-area shelters. Thomas Martel (above) was placed on it after his guilty plea, with a psychiatric evaluation ordered as a condition of release.
Florida — Dexter’s Law database
Florida’s statewide database of convicted animal abusers, run by FDLE, went live Jan 1, 2026 and is named for Dexter (above). Shelters, rescues, and the public can search it; aggravated-cruelty offenders stay listed for ten years, and mugshots were slated to be added Oct 1, 2026.
California — proposed
A state lawmaker has proposed a California online registry for convicted felony animal abusers: names, photos, and conviction details, listed for ten years. It is a proposal, not yet law — which is part of why this page exists.
Put this to work
See cruelty happening?
An animal in immediate danger is a 911 call. Otherwise, report to your local animal control or humane law enforcement agency — video, photos, dates, and an exact location are what turn a report into a case. In the Cruz case above, one homeowner’s security camera is the entire reason there is a case.
Don’t confront the person. Document, report, and let officers build the record that ends up on pages like this one.
Know a conviction we missed?
Send the offender’s name, the court or county, and a link to the news story or court record. Convictions only for the registry — if the case is still pending, send it anyway and it goes on the watch list.
Submit a case by email
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