Mahoning County’s state senator is taking steps to protect Ohio’s animals and its children.

State Sen. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, introduced three pieces of legislation recently to combat cruelty to animals and now has linked those efforts to child abuse prevention.

On Wednesday, Cutrona announced Senate Bill 265, which would prohibit Ohio residents from becoming an adoptive parent or a foster caregiver if they are convicted of cruelty to companion animals.

“My big consideration and my big concern is the massive amount of correlation between companion animal abuse and other violence, specifically child abuse,” he said.

Cutrona cited conversations he has had with judges and other court officials, as well as academic studies showing the link between animal and child abuse.

The news release from Cutrona’s office states: “Senate Bill 265 closes the gap in Ohio law by disqualifying a person who has been convicted of animal cruelty, harm to companion animals, animal fighting, dogfighting, or sexual conduct with an animal from being a foster caregiver or adoptive parent. Under current law, the offense of cruelty to a companion animal is not cited when conducting a criminal background check on potential caregivers.”

“This is just one more layer, taking it from animal abuse and applying that to children and making sure we keep children as safe as possible,” Cutrona said.

He said the bill is intended to prevent those with convictions or guilty pleas to abuse of cats, dogs and other companion pets from applying to foster or adopt a child.

Ideally, though, the law, if passed, also will apply to those who already operate as foster parents should they be found guilty of such offenses.

“I think there may be some additional issues that arise on the adoption side, and there may be some other legalities that occur there, but for the fostering, absolutely,” Cutrona said.

He said it is uncertain — though unlikely — that the law would apply retroactively to those with existing convictions who now have adopted or foster children.

The press release states that the bill is not yet set for any committee hearings.

The bill follows SB 252, also introduced by Cutrona, that would ban the declawing of domestic cats in Ohio, except in cases where a vet finds that it is medically necessary to correct an existing health problem for the animal.

“It’s really concerning, too, the amount of cats that can go back out into the wild and now they have no defense mechanism,” Cutrona said. “I’ve heard some people say this may prevent adoption for cats, but a study done in a city in Colorado showed no decrease in adoption rates for cats with a declawing ban in place.

“Honestly, if people are more concerned about their sofa they probably just shouldn’t have a cat,” he said.

Another bill introduced by Cutrona, SB 64, which increases the penalties for abuse to companion animals, is pending in Ohio’s Senate Judiciary Committee.

“Addressing these concerns of harm towards animals provides increased awareness of animal cruelty across the Valley and Eastern Ohio,” Cutrona said. “I look forward to continuing advocating on behalf of companion animals throughout this biennium.”