CA SB1277

Requires persons over 18 convicted of felony animal abuse (Penal Code sections 597, 597b, 597.5, or 600) to register with local law enforcement for 10 years from date of conviction, providing name, aliases, address, employment, photograph, and fingerprints.

Mandates the Department of Justice make animal abuse offender registration information publicly available on an Internet website by January 1, 2012, including name, aliases, photograph, physical description, date of birth, criminal history, and residence address or transient county.

Establishes the Animal Protection Fund requiring offenders to pay additional fines of $200 for misdemeanor convictions and $500 for felony convictions, with funds used for website administration and local spay and neuter programs.

Prohibits registered offenders from accessing the Internet website and criminalizes using disclosed information for purposes other than protecting animals at risk, with civil liability of up to $25,000 and actual damages.

Makes willful failure to register a misdemeanor punishable by 90 days to one year in county jail, and allows offenders to be relieved of registration duty only through a certificate of rehabilitation.