Cooper Named One of Year's Top Ten Animal Defenders

Suffolk County Legislator Jon Cooper has been named co-sponsor of the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s National Justice for Animals Week which starts today. In addition he has named one of America’s top ten animal defenders by the ALDF.

Cooper, who has long been a champion for animals, made national headway this October when he made Suffolk County the first county in the nation to establish an animal abuse registry. The registry, which operates in a similar fashion to sex offender registries, requires convicted animal abusers to register their names, addresses and photographs in the database. The database is entirely funded by abusers’ registration fees and private donations. The database can then be accessed by the public.

The law, officially entitled Justin’s Law, was inspired by a particular incident that occurred in Suffolk County last May when a Doberman mix named Justin was found locked inside a bedroom, emaciated and not expected to survive the mistreatment. But Justin defied the odds and made a full recovery. He was adopted by a Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) officer and he was named the official mascot for National Justice for Animals Week 2011.

The ALDF said it was a “no brainer” that Cooper was selected as one of this year’s top ten animal defenders and co-sponsor of National Justice for Animals Week. The organization worked closely with Cooper to draft up the language of Justin’s Law, and Cooper’s bill has since sparked proposals for similar laws in 20 different counties across the nation in 2011 alone.

“Cooper is a trailblazer for strong laws to protect animals,” said Lisa Franzetta, the ALDF’s director of communications. “Legislator Cooper was the obvious choice to co-sponsor [National Justice for Animals Week].”

The events for the week will be held online on the ALDF’s website. There will be different posts every day of the week informing people of different actions they can take to protect animals in their community, different petitions to sign and advice on how to reach out to legislators in their area. Cooper will also be adding to the site with regular blog posts. The event will also involve the ALDF’s Facebook community in an attempt to reach more users.

Cooper is thrilled to be both a co-sponsor and recognized animal rights activist.

"This is an issue that has been very close to my heart for years," Cooper said. "It's a great honor to have this recognition by the ALDF, which is one of the leading national organizations in this field."