Kentucky teen helping to introduce 'Kyan's Law,' aimed at training animal control officers to recognize child abuse

LA GRANGE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Animal control officers often answer calls for strays and hoarding.

But soon, every one in the state of Kentucky could undergo training to help vulnerable people.

For years, the founder of Kentucky Link Coalition, Joye Keeley, has studied the connection between animal abuse and human violence.

When she was a lieutenant at the Louisville Metro Police Department, she investigated child abuse and domestic violence, and found sometimes those happened simultaneously with hurting an animal.

"Approximately 30% of the people who commit that, commit some type of crime against a person at the same time," Keeley said. "The reason that they do co-occur, is because of the abusive nature of the perpetrator. That's the link that links it all together."

She said animal abuse can be an indicator of a future crime, too. In 2021, 28-year-old Kaitlyn Higgins was arrested and charged with murdering her son, Kyan.

Kyan was just 10 years old when he was killed. Keeley filed an open records request with Louisville Metro Animal Services, and found that officers had responded to complaints against his mother more than 20 times.

Kyan's story inspired Kiera Dunk, a high school freshman in Oldham County, to approach lawmakers in Frankfort about a possible bill.

"I'm hoping that it will help children get out of that situation before abuse can occur," Dunk said.

The bill, called "Kyan's Law," is set to be introduced to the Senate on Thursday. The legislation would require evidence-informed trainings on child abuse and neglect recognition for animal control officers.

Animal control officers who know or have reasonable cause to believe that a child is neglected or abused would file a report.

"To expand their call for service to see if anybody else is being abused," Keeley said.

Keeley said she applauds Dunk for championing the bill.

"I admire her ingenuity, her passion," Keeley said.

The director of Oldham County's Animal Control, Polly Helton, said her officers are already required to report if they see signs of human abuse or neglect. But a full training could be a game-changer.

"After reading the proposed bill, I was like, that's a great idea," Helton said. "We're getting ready to do our budgets this year, so that is one that I will be putting in our training budget."

Once the bill is filed in the Senate, state Rep. Susan Witten told WDRB News that she will be filing a similar bill in the House.

She said because of the strong correlation between the abuse of animals and humans is strong, she's glad to "get a chance to fix that this session."

Even though she cannot even vote, Dunk has built a strong relationship with leaders in Frankfort. In 2022, she helped produce "Kami's Law," which made criminal abuse against a child under 12 years old a Class B felony.

She hopes other children and teens will continue to much lawmakers in trying to make a difference.

"I say it's very important to have a voice in the government," Dunk said. "If you're passionate about something, to try and make changes."

Louisville already has a similar law in place.

In the months following Kyan's death, Metro Council passed an ordinance that requires all LMPD officers to undergo training and understand the correlation between animal abuse and human abuse.

Louisville Metro Animal Services is also be required to take this training through LMPD.