Animal Cruelty Will be a Top-Tier Felony, Says FBI

Good news for animal lovers everywhere! The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will now be tracking offenders of animal abuse like they would for any other federal crime, following these abusers throughout their life to make sure they get deserving sentences and do not become repeat offenders.

"For those of us who champion animal protection issues, we have been frustrated by the fact that the FBI's UCR (Uniform Crime Reporting) program has not included data related to crimes against animals. However, that glaring deficiency is about to change," the Animal Legal Defense Fund recently announced.

According to the Fund, the FBI's internal committee unanimously passed two resolutions that would expand the scope of the UCR program to track crimes against animals. Last September, Director James Comey of the FBI formally approved these changes.

"The change instituted by the FBI formally recognizes the seriousness of animal abuse crimes and their negative impact on the welfare of society," Cathy Liss, president of the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), said in a statement. "The data that will become available as a result of this change will help law enforcement better understand and respond to these types of crimes, which occur alongside many other forms of violence and criminal activity."

The AWI, alongside a great number of other animal protection groups, say they started suggesting these changes nearly 12 years ago.

According to The Associated Press (AP), before these changes were passed, the FBI had filed animal abuse under "All Other Offenses" along with lesser crimes. Now, animal cruelty will be categorized as a Group A felony - the same level as crimes like homicide, arson, and serious assault.

"It will help get better sentences, sway juries and make for better plea bargains," Madeline Bernstein, president and CEO of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles, and a former New York prosecutor, told the AP.

She added that the category will also help officials identify and track the behavior of young offenders, in the hopes that if they get help now, they won't become famous torture murderers like Jeffery Dahmer.

Still, the Bureau says that the database won't be utterly overhauled until 2016, and even then it will take months before there are numbers to analyze.