Reports of animal cruelty and officer-dog encounters appear in the news on almost a daily basis and those are only the instances that are reported. With the rise in animal abuse crimes and increase in officer-animal encounters, the need for greater law enforcement understanding of animal cruelty and animal behavior is more apparent than ever. Awareness and understanding of the nature of animal abuse is imperative in creating safer communities due overwhelming scientific research demonstrating the close relationship between animal cruelty and other types of crimes, including interpersonal violence, property crimes, and drug offenses.Law enforcement officers play a unique role in the prevention of, and response to, animal abuse. As a result, steps are currently being taken by law enforcement to better protect communities from animal cruelty offenders. Last month, FBI Director James Comey signed off on the inclusion of animal cruelty offenses in the Uniform Crime Report (UCR). It’s the first time animal cruelty data will be included in federal crime reports and it affirms, at high levels of law enforcement, that animal cruelty is a serious crime.

Recognizing the serious nature of animal cruelty crimes and implications to public safety the National Sheriffs’ Association founded the National Law Enforcement Center on Animal Abuse. NLECAA was created to serve as an information clearinghouse and forum for law enforcement on animal abuse issues, including the link between animal cruelty and other crimes, and officer-dog encounters. The goal of the center is to provide law enforcement with the resources to develop a better understanding of animal cruelty and animal behavior. By having a greater understanding of animal cruelty, law enforcement officers with have the tools to be proactively involved in the prevention of animal cruelty and enforcement of animal abuse laws.

A variety of state and local resources, including animal cruelty and protection laws, best practices, and training opportunities with be available through NLECAA.

An important aspect of the center will be resources to better understand animal behavior and deal with canine encounters. Dog shootings by law enforcement officers are on the rise and with that comes potential erosion of public trust. There is a strong likelihood that a law enforcement officer will encounter a dog when responding to a home. It is important that law enforcement officers understand animal behavior to ensure, both, the safety of the officer and the safety of the animal. With NLECAA, Law Enforcement officers will have access to a variety of state, local and national resources designed to aid in understanding animal behavior and non-lethal options.

With the assistance of local and national partner organizations like the Humane Society of the United States, American Humane Association, Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal Welfare Institute, Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, National Animal Care & Control Association, National Canine Research Council, National Children’s Advocacy Center, National District Attorney’s Association, National Link Coalition, Native America Humane Society, The George Washington University Animal Law Program, The Michigan State University Animal Legal and Historical Center, and the University of Florida Maples Center for Forensic Medicine law enforcement officers across the nation will have access to resources that will help in the fight against animal cruelty and increase public safety.

The National Law Enforcement Center on Animal Abuse can be accessed at www.sheriffs.org/nlecca.

This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. It is being made available in an effort to advance the understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.. It is believed that this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.