TN lawmaker introduces bill to prevent animal abusers from having pets for 2 years

Posted: Jan 15, 2020 / 11:19 AM EST / Updated: Jan 15, 2020 / 11:21 AM EST

FILE – In this June 19, 2019 file photo, a dog taken from a property in Klingerstown, Pa., looks out from its cage during an animal cruelty investigation. Congress has passed a bill making certain types of animal cruelty a federal felony. (Jacqueline Dormer/Republican-Herald via AP)

TENNESSEE (WJHL) — A bill introduced this week aims to protect pets that could end up in the homes of people with an animal cruelty charge.

Representative Darren Jernigan (D) of Davidson County introduced HB1643 on Tuesday, which, according to a summary of the bill, “requires a sentencing court to prohibit a defendant convicted of certain offenses against animals from owning any companion animal for at least two years from the date of conviction.”

If approved in Nashville, the bill would take effect July 1, 2020. According to state’s website, it would apply to offenses committed on or after that date.

According to the General Assembly website, no other action on the bill has been announced at this time.