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State legislation nods to Marion County's work with animal abuse registry

By Juan Carlos Chaoui

April 11, 2025 at 4:59 PM EDT

A statewide animal abuse registry could be created in Florida thanks to proposed legislation.

Marion County’s “Molly’s Law” was enacted almost 10 years ago

It created a digital registry making animal abusers' information publicly available.

Marion County Commissioner Matt McClain says other counties are following suit.

"So this is something that the rest of the state is seeing, as being a success story about how to prevent this type of thing from happening,” he said.

McClain showed his support for the state legislation in an appropriations committee.

“The committee vote was unanimous and everyone was in support... it was clearly something that resonated with a lot of people.”