Legislation that would allow courts to consider animal cruelty complaints when deciding whether or not to impose a temporary extreme risk protection order is one-third of the way toward becoming state law.

A temporary extreme risk protection order, otherwise known as a red flag order, is a court order that temporarily restricts an individual’s access to firearms. There are temporary orders that are in place while a court decides if a final extreme risk protection order is warranted.

The state Assembly unanimously passed A.6656 recently. The legislation sponsored by Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, D-New York City, would amend the state’s Civil Practice Law to allow judges to consider recent acts of aggravated cruelty to animals as a factor to be considered when determining whether grounds for a temporary extreme risk protection order exist

Currently, the state’s Civil Practice Law lists criteria for courts to consider when determining whether to issue a temporary extreme risk protection order, including threats of physical force, reckless use or brandishing of firearms, recent or ongoing substance or alcohol abuse, or other considerations. While the court may consider other unlisted factors at its discretion, four states have explicitly added animal cruelty to their statutes. Rosenthal wants to do the same.

The National Sheriffs’ Association similarly notes the connection between animal and human violence, including that 60% of families under investigation for child abuse and 88% of those specifically investigated

for physical child abuse also reported instances of animal cruelty. New York’s Family Court law allows companion animals to be included in orders of protection.

“Expanding the TERPO criteria to explicitly include cruelty to animals is an important step in protecting New Yorkers by recognizing the strong connection to violence against people,” Rosenthal wrote in her legislative justification.

The legislation (S.5514) hasn’t yet moved out of committee in the state Senate. Republicans in the Assembly didn’t voice opposition to Rosenthal’s proposal, but Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh, R-Ballston, said her only concern is that allowing animal cruelty reports to be considered in a temporary extreme risk protection order case doesn’t create additional work for judges who have to hear the cases.

“I hope that this isn’t put an additional burden on the court that is making this determination, sometimes at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m., whenever these TERPO requests come in, to have to go to some other kind of registry to try to determine if there’s been any acts of animal cruelty” Walsh said. “Only probable cause is necessary to actually issue the TERPO, so I just hope that as the evidence comes in to support it that it doesn’t it is putting too much additional burden on the court or the judges that are trying to make these determination, sometimes very often in the middle of the night.”