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This is excellent news. Starting on January 1, 2016 animal abuse is now a Class A Felony instead of categorized as “other.” This Washington Post article has the details, without any horrible pics. There is a video for you to click on if you choose. There is other excellent coverage, but use caution as you look around as there are some disturbing pics out there.

So we are making progress. There was some reaction on Twitter that this is an example of the federal govenment intervening in something that’s none of their business. Quite the opposite! While we all know the Fed is involved in way too much, this is exactly what they can and should be dealing with. Animal abuse is linked to violence against humans and serial killers as well. If we focus, we can continue to protect the voiceless and the most kind among us. We will be judged by how we treat defenseless creatures who offer us unconditional love. At the very least, we must be their defenders.

Via Washington Post (safe to link)

“…Randour, a psychologist who switched careers to devote herself full time to animal rights advocacy, found there was no one keeping track of animal-abuse crimes. Even the most egregious cases, like dogfighting, fell under the category of “other” when local police agencies reported their statistics to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’ National Incident Based Reporting System.

She began a concerted push for the FBI to elevate animal cruelty to its own separate offense category. After a years-long lobbying effort, in 2014, the FBI agreed. And this year will be the first time it collects data on animal crimes the way it does for other serious crimes like homicide.

The FBI defines cruelty to animals as: “Intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly taking an action that mistreats or kills any animal without just cause, such as torturing, tormenting, mutilation, maiming, poisoning, or abandonment.”

There will be four categories of crimes: simple or gross neglect, intentional abuse and torture, organized abuse — like dog fighting and cock fighting — and animal sexual abuse.

“These are creatures that suffer and we know their capacity to suffer,” said Randour, now the senior adviser for animal cruelty programs and training at the nonprofit Animal Welfare Institute. “In most societies it’s recognized that creatures that are dependent on others, whether the elderly or children or animals, need to be protected.”

From a year ago: Barkpost: The FBI Just Made Animal Cruelty A Top-Tier Felony (Use caution when linking, pic of injured dog).

Howls and barks of celebration!

Early last week, the top crime-busting dogs at the FBI announced that they were re-categorizing animal cruelty as a Class-A felony for data information purposes. Now animal abusers could potentially face jail-time in order to set a deterrent against future like offenses.

Previously, animal cruelty was classified as “other,” making it a difficult crime to track, find and statistically count. Now, animal cruelty will be listed in a similar manner to major crimes such as assault, homicide and arson. It will divide the crime into four categories: intentional abuse and torture, simple or gross neglect, organized abuse (like dogfighting and cockfighting) and animal sexual abuse.

The National Sherriffs’ Association was a primary force behind the change, as they are firm believers that animal cruelty is a key behavioral indicator of other crimes. Pawtner-in-advocacy Animal Welfare Institute, succinctly stated the benefits: “Collecting this data will enable law enforcement agencies and researchers to understand the factors associated with animal abuse.”

Additionally, this information could provide the FBI a better understanding of the factors that create violent crimes. For example, various studies have shown the link between animal cruelty and serial killers, as well as domestic abusers. Infamous serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer, Albert De Salvo (the Boston Strangler) and David Berkowitz (the Son of Sam) notoriously all tortured and killed animals before moving on to humans.

National Coalition on VIolence Against Animals: Facts on Animal Abuse, Violence and Serial Killers