FBI Makes Animal Cruelty a Felony!
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Chris deRose, Last Chance for Animals (LCA)
October 2014

This goes into effect January 2016, when crimes against animals will start to be included in the FBI's Uniform Crime Report. They will fall under their own distinct category — just like arson, assault and homicide do.

In 2012, I appeared on the Jane Velez Show to tackle this exact issue. This was just after the arrest of Canadian killer Luka Magnotta, who posted videos of himself torturing and suffocating kittens online. LCA warned that his next victims would likely be human, but authorities failed to act. Soon, Magnotta posted the video "1 Lunatic, 1 Ice Pick,” in which he killed and dismembered Chinese exchange student Lin Jun.

We at Last Chance for Animals have fought for over 30 years to achieve tougher laws against animal abuse, despite systematic indifference by the government. Now, the FBI has finally decided to start tracking animal cruelty cases, and will classify them as Group A felonies.

This goes into effect January 2016, when crimes against animals will start to be included in the FBI's Uniform Crime Report. They will fall under their own distinct category — just like arson, assault and homicide do.

The FBI thinks tracking these cases is important because animal abusers often go on to attack humans — a point all of us at LCA have been making for decades. Soon, law enforcement at all levels will be able to easily learn about animal abusers' past crimes, and will hopefully be able to stop future violence before it happens.

In 2012, I appeared on the Jane Velez Show to tackle this exact issue. This was just after the arrest of Canadian killer Luka Magnotta, who posted videos of himself torturing and suffocating kittens online. LCA warned that his next victims would likely be human, but authorities failed to act. Soon, Magnotta posted the video "1 Lunatic, 1 Ice Pick,” in which he killed and dismembered Chinese exchange student Lin Jun.

Many other killers also graduated from animal cruelty to homicide, including Jeffrey Dahmer, the Columbine shooters, and "Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez. As many of you know, I was once in the same jail as Ramirez, in one of the 12 times I was arrested for protecting animals.

To try to stop such violence, I've served as a big brother to 26 street kids, and reached out to juvenile animal abusers to help them turn their lives around.

We at LCA are thrilled with the news from the FBI, and will continue to help curb violence toward all species.

Return to Animal Rights Articles
Read more at Litigation