In brief: Obama leading in battleground states

Washington – New polls in four battleground states show President Barack Obama holding a lead of 5 to 7 points over Republican nominee Mitt Romney, reinforcing the national surveys that indicate that the incumbent gained ground with his convention last week.

Of the four, Obama’s largest lead comes in the critical state of Ohio, where he leads Romney 50 percent to 43 percent among likely voters, according to the latest NBC/Wall St. Journal/Marist University poll. The survey also polled likely voters in Florida, where Obama led 49 percent to 43 percent, and Virginia, where he led 49 percent to 44 percent.

In a separate survey by New Hampshire’s WMUR-TV, Obama led Romney 45 percent to 40 percent in that state.

The polls in all four states were taken in the days immediately following the Democratic nominating convention, so they may have caught Obama at a high point.

New York City mulls pet abuser registry

New York – New York City could become the largest jurisdiction to establish a registry for animal abusers, similar to the ones for sex offenders, if it approves a law prompted by a man who threw his dog out of a third-story window.

The measure introduced in the City Council this week would require convicted animal abusers to provide their names, home addresses and photographs for an online registry, available to animal shelters and pet shops. The abusers would be barred from owning animals.

Three New York counties – Suffolk, Albany and Rockland – have established animal abuse registries. Registry bills have been introduced in nine states this year, according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund.