TRI-CITIES, Wash. -- A widespread crime in the U.S. handled by local law agencies now has the attention of the FBI.
Starting in 2016, the FBI will track animal cruelty, which has been an issue for years in the Tri-Cities and around Washington state.
KEPR brought viewers the story of Miracle, an abused horse whose story came to a sad end last January when she was put down. But there are countless other animals that now may have a fighting chance.
Animal cruelty comes in many forms. Last year, Miracle was put down after enduring a long road to recovery that never came. More than 700 pounds underweight, with damaged hooves and an injured hip, she was left to die on a Benton City road.
"No one was tracking all of these animal offenses," said Ashley Mauceri, law enforcement outreach director of the U.S. Humane Society. "Now we will have real data to take a look at."
Data the FBI suspects will paint a rather large and ugly picture.
"Law enforcement is starting to see the correlation between animal cruelty crimes and other crimes against humans and disturbing crimes in the community," said Mauceri.
In 2014, animal cruelty was reclassified by the FBI as a Group A Felony, comparable to arson and homicide. But with no cross-agency reporting this still left many abuse cases in the dark.
"They look at a clear picture across the nation that agencies are reporting crimes in the same way uniformly so that they can get an accurate picture of trends," said Sgt. Ken Lattin of the Kennewick Police Department.
Going forward, four categories of animal abuse will be tracked: Simple or gross neglect (e.g. leaving a pet outside to die); deliberate abuse or torture; organized abuse (animal fighting); and sexual abuse (bestiality).
"It's become more of a topic of conversation within households and the community, that where you find animal cruelty you find other kinds of suffering," said Mauceri.
In 2013 a Kennewick landlord whose tenants skipped town abandoned 14 starving animals. No charges were ever filed against the pet owners.
The following year, Romanian Princess Irina Walker was among several people busted for cockfighting in Irrigon, OR. Their top breeder was believed to be located in Kennewick. Walker was given probation.
"A lot of the times in these local cases the sentence never seems to fit the crime," said Mauceri. "That animal cruelty should be tracked gives more incentive to law enforcement to purse these kinds of crimes."
With local agencies now reporting to the FBI, perhaps more cases will turn into the miracle that many hoped one horse would become.
The FBI will impose federal charges varying by offense, including fines and prison time. Anyone who suspects a case of animal cruelty can file a report with local police and contact Tri-Cities Animal Control.
Listen to a podcast from the FBI about why they chose to reclassify animal cruelty charges.
