NSA Releases New Animal Cruelty Resource for Law Enforcement

ALEXANDRIA, VA – The National Sheriffs’ Association’s National Law Enforcement Center on Animal Abuse (NLECAA) released a white paper, Animal Cruelty as a Gateway Crime, and its complementary mobile application today.

The resources were developed with funding from a grant by the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office).

“This publication discusses the fact that crimes of cruelty to animals are often precursors to crimes of violence and abuse against people. It outlines the ways in which law enforcement practitioners’ maintaining awareness of animal cruelty—including by bridging the communication gap with their colleagues in animal control—can expose warning signs in homes of the possibility or likelihood that other crimes are imminent and may help anticipate and prevent those crimes before they are committed,” said COPS Director Phil Keith.

“Our research has shown if somebody is harming an animal, there is a good chance they also are hurting or will hurt a human. If we can see patterns of animal abuse, the odds are that something else is going on,” said John Thompson, Deputy Executive Director of the National Sheriffs’ Association.

The white paper and links to the mobile application are available at https://www.sheriffs.org/AnimalCrueltyGateway.