Retired FBI Agent, Jaquin “Jack” Garcia is Now the Director of Investigations for Guardians of Rescue

Guardians of Rescue has a reputation for helping animals, as well as veterans. But they are about to become even more effective when it comes to bringing animal abusers to justice. The animal rescue organization announces that they brought on Joaquin “Jack” Garcia, a former FBI agent, to head up the unit that investigates reports of animal cruelty.

“Bringing Jack Garcia on board is great news for us, and bad news for those who abuse animals,” says Robert Misseri, founder and president of Guardians of Rescue. “Jack is the best there is at investigating such things and will get to the bottom of complicated animal abuse cases. This is one more giant step in helping the animals.”

Garcia spent 26 years as an FBI agent and was even dubbed by some as being the best undercover agent in the history of the FBI. He worked on over 100 undercover investigations, and his last case he went undercover as mobster “Jack Falcone” for many years, which helped get 39 convictions of Mafia figures. Today, he’s retired from the FBI, but ready to take on investigating those who abuse animals and help bring them to justice.

With the Guardians of Rescue, Garcia will be acting on larger complaints of animal abuse, cruelty, and neglect. As a investigator, he will be working with a group of licensed private investigators who are retired law enforcement that will aid in the investigations and assist with gathering information that can be used in animal cruelty cases. These cases may involve a range of issues such as hoarding, dog fighting, illegal breeding, etc. He will be working with the local state and federal authorities to investigate and document his findings.

“I’m happy to be able to put my skills and experience to use helping uncover animal cruelty,” says Jack Garcia. “Working with Guardians of Rescue I am confident we will be able to hold people accountable for the animal cruelty they are participating in. After years of investigating drug dealers, organized crime, murder for hire etc., the acts of violence on defenseless animals is as vicious as some of the crimes I’ve investigated.”

Guardians of Rescue provides assistance to animals out on the streets, helping to rescue them, provide medical care, food and shelter, and find foster-home placements. They are also instrumental in helping military members with their pets, and to provide service dogs to veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. To learn more, get involved, or to make a donation to support the Guardians of Rescue, log onto www.guardiansofrescue.org.

About Guardians of Rescue
Based in New York, Guardians of Rescue is an organization whose mission is to protect the well being of all animals. They provide aid to animals in distress, including facilitating foster programs, rehabilitation, assisting other rescue groups, and providing support to families, both military and not, who need assistance due to economic factors. To learn more about Guardians of Rescue, visit the site at www.guardiansofrescue.org.

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FBI Crisis Response Canines Help Victims Cope With Tragedy

After the mass terrorist shooting in San Bernardino, California, the FBI’s Victim Assistance Rapid Deployment Team was among the first to respond.

The multidisciplinary group consisted of victim specialists, analysts, and special agents all trained in responding to mass casualty events.

While in San Bernardino, they connected grieving victims and their families to a variety of support services during the course of the investigation. But when it came to providing relief and comfort, the team relied on two English Labrador Retrievers for help.

Wally and Giovanni are the FBI’s new crisis response canines. They are part of a pilot program recently launched by the Bureau’s Office for Victim Assistance (OVA).

According to OVA Assistant Director Kathryn Turman, the dogs are an additional way her team can help victims and family members cope with the impact of crime.

“The Crisis Response Canine Program was a natural evolution in developing the Rapid Deployment Team’s capacity,” said Turman. “With San Bernardino and other places we’ve taken them, the dogs have worked a certain type of magic with people under a great deal of stress. That’s been the greatest value."

Turman said the idea for the canine program stemmed from a conference she attended years ago in Canada, where she witnessed police victim service dogs in action. Turman quickly brought the concept to life at the FBI when she returned home.

To read more on this story, click here: FBI Crisis Response Canines Help Victims Cope With Tragedy

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Beginning Today, the FBI Will Initiate a New Program Targeting Animal Abusers

Beginning today, the FBI will initiate a new program targeting animal abusers.  Cruelty cases will be categorized and tracked, with the aim of cracking down on abusers.

Back in 2014, we told you about the FBI’s plan to make it harder for animal abusers to continue committing such crimes with minimal punishment.  Animal abuse has previously been considered a lesser crime, but now it will be a Group A felony with its own category, the same way homicide and arson are listed.

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

The FBI will now be better able to keep statistics on where cruelty is occurring, how frequently, and if incidents are on the rise.  Youthful offenders will be identified to help them curb their behavior.

The FBI says law enforcement agencies will have to make reports of incidents under four categories:  simple or gross neglect; intentional abuse and torture; organized abuse, including dogfighting and cockfighting; and animal sexual abuse.“

The immediate benefit is it will be in front of law enforcement every month when they have to do their crime reports,” said John Thompson, interim executive director of the National Sheriffs’ Association who helped establish the new animal cruelty category. “That’s something we have never seen.

”Crimes will be tracked nationwide, and will hopefully ensure tougher sentences for abusers.“

Regardless of whether [or not] people care about how animals are treated, people — like legislators and judges — care about humans, and they can’t deny the data,” said Natasha Dolezal, director of the animal law program in the Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

Police agencies must now report all incidents and arrests.  The FBI will levy federal charges according to the offense – anything from fines to lengthy stays in prison.

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The FBI Will Begin Tracking Cases of Animal Cruelty Nationally in 2016

Baltimore, Maryland - The FBI will begin tracking cases of animal cruelty nationally in 2016, a move advocates hope will bring more attention to the crime among law enforcement agencies and underscore the link between animal abuse and other violent crimes.

Until now, animal-related crimes have been reported into a catch-all category in the FBI’s National Incident Based Reporting System. The database collects crime reports from police departments across the country.

“There was no way to find out how often it occurs, where it occurs, and whether it was on the increase,” said Mary Lou Randour, senior adviser for animal cruelty programs and training at the nonprofit Animal Welfare Institute. “Empirical data is important. It’s going to give us information about animal cruelty crime so we can plan better about intervention and prevention.”

Randour and others say tracking animal cruelty cases is especially important because research has shown that violence against animals can be an early indicator that a person will be violent toward humans, and that animal abuse often occurs alongside other crimes such as domestic violence.

“In animal abuse, you have total power over the animal,” said Baltimore County prosecutor Adam Lippe, who handles cruelty cases. “If you’re willing to exert that in a cruel, malicious and vicious way, then you’re likely to do that to people too, who don’t have power, like children and vulnerable adults. It’s an issue of a lack of empathy.”

The National Link Coalition, which promotes understanding of the connection between animal abuse and other crimes, says witnessing animal abuse and neglect can desensitize a child to violence and impede the development of empathy.

Randour, who advocated for the FBI change for years, says a spouse may use violence and threats against pets as part of a pattern of abuse.

“It is a form of interpersonal violence,” she said. “It’s another way to try to gain control and power or exercise intimidation.”

Some serial killers, including Jeffrey Dahmer and David Berkowitz — the “Son of Sam” — abused animals when they were young.

Starting in January, the FBI says, police departments will be required to report animal-related crimes to the national database. The FBI will categorize them as a “crime against society.”

Incidents will be divided into four categories: neglect; intentional abuse and torture; organized abuse such as dog fighting and cock fighting; and animal sexual abuse.

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program is used by criminologists, law enforcement and researchers.

John Thompson, deputy executive director of the National Sheriffs’ Association, helped push for the FBI change.

A few decades ago, he said, animal cruelty was not on the radar of many law enforcement officers.

“If there were an animal crime, we would just send it over to animal control or ignore it,” Thompson said.

Some police departments now have dedicated resources for animal cruelty. The Baltimore Police Department has a four-person team, spokesman Lt. Jarron Jackson says. That’s up from one officer in 2009.

Public awareness has also increased through high-profile cases.

For instance, former Ravens player Terrence Cody and his girlfriend were found guilty last month of animal cruelty charges in the death last year of Cody’s dog — though both were found innocent on more serious felony aggravated cruelty counts.

Also this month, a case involving a Baltimore police officer who slit a dog’s throat made headlines. The officer, who said he had been trying to put the animal out of its misery after it was strangled on a dog pole, was acquitted of animal cruelty charges.

Once the FBI starts tracking animal cruelty, Thompson says, it could take five or six years before there is enough data to analyze trends.

Dr. Martha Smith-Blackmore, a forensic veterinarian who studies animal abuse cases, said she hopes better numbers will help experts analyze the backgrounds and patterns of animal abusers.

“When I started seeing cases of animal cruelty, I realized that these animals are stuck in the same dysfunctional families and suffering from the same ills as the people stuck in these households,” she said.

Smith-Blackmore, who is based in Massachusetts, consults and testifies in animal cruelty cases. She recently testified for the prosecution in the Cody case in Baltimore County.

“I hope that (the new data) us going to bring to light some associations of who animal abusers are, what their backgrounds are, what they go on to do,” she said.

Thompson, a former police chief of Mount Rainier in Prince George’s County and a former Prince George’s assistant sheriff, says he has become convinced that law enforcement needs to pay attention to animal crimes as a potential link to other crimes.

“This is a community problem,” he said.

Sen. Joe Fain holds his dog, Waffles, as Gov. Jay Inslee signed in May a bill Fain sponsored that expanded the state's animal cruelty laws in Olympia. The measure makes it a civil offense to lock an animal in a car or enclosed space in dangerous conditions, like extreme heat or cold. The FBI will begin tracking cases of animal cruelty nationally in 2016.

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The FBI Has Now Named Animal Cruelty as a Top Tier Crime Along with Arson, Burglary, Kidnapping, and Homicide

Memphis, TN - The FBI has now named animal cruelty as a top tier crime along with arson, burglary, kidnapping, and homicide.

The new federal category for animal cruelty crimes is expected to root out pet abusers and give a boost to prosecutions.

Animal advocate Cindy Sanders, who co-founded the Community Action for Animals organization, is happy about the changes.

"Animal cruelty is a huge problem," said Sanders. "Honestly, it's big everywhere but the Mid-South and the Deep South show some of the highest concentrations.

When the changes go into effect, federal law will regard animal cruelty as a crime against society.

"If it's a dog fighting case where it's taking part in a couple of states, that's a federal law," Sanders explained. "If it is an animal abuse case of a puppy mill that is shipping across the country that makes it a federal type thing."

For years, the FBI has filed animal abuse charges under the label "other," along with a variety of lesser crimes. This categorization made cruelty hard to find, count, and track.

Since animal cruelty is considered a more serious crime under the new rules, reports will now be documented in the National Incident-Based Reporting System. This action will advance how law enforcement officials understand how to prevent these often violent crimes.

Sanders says the collected information could be used as an early warning sign to help identify people who start out abusing animals and end up abusing humans.

"We see almost every defendant accused of a level of animal cruelty has had child abuse, spouse abuse, violent assault arrests," Sanders explained. "They have a history."

Sanders says cities and states will still have their own criteria for animal cruelty charges, but she sees the new laws as a level of enforcement regarding people who hurt animals. She hopes the federal changes will motivate state legislatures to put more laws on the books to protect animals.


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The FBI Is Classifying Animal Abuse As A Top-Tier Felony To Stop It Once And For All

Abuse an animal, and you’ll be considered among the ranks of murderers and cannibals.

Earlier this week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that animal abuse will be prosecuted as a “crime against society,” making it a Group A felony equal to arson and murder in the eyes of the law.

The AP reports that the FBI will prosecute intentional abuse and torture, gross neglect, sexual abuse and organized abuse, which includes dog fights.

To read more on this story, click here: The FBI Is Classifying Animal Abuse As A Top-Tier Felony To Stop It Once And For All FOLLOW US!

Finally, the Federal Government is Treating Animal Abuse as a Serious Crime: FBI Will Crack Animal Cruelty Cases

Last month the Federal Bureau of Investigation quietly changed its policy by agreeing to add animal cruelty as a distinct offense in the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS). The new policy followed proposals from the National Sheriff’s Association and the Animal Welfare Institute.

Until now, the FBI classified animal abuse under the "other" category, with a group of less serious offenses. That made it difficult for law enforcement agencies and animal welfare groups to monitor, and fight, the unlawful harming of animals across the country. Now the crime will have its own felony classification similar to other violent crimes such as murder, assault and rape. "It will be a Group A offense and a Crime against Society," the FBI said in a statement provided to The Dodo. "Criminal activity and gang information will be expanded to include four types of abuses."

The four categories are: simple/gross neglect; intentional abuse and torture, organized abuse (ie, dog and cock fighting); and animal sexual abuse.

What constitutes cruelty? "Intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly taking an action that mistreats or kills any animal without just cause, such as torturing, tormenting, mutilation, maiming, poisoning, or abandonment," the FBI statement said.

Examples of such abuse include failure to provide food, water, shelter or needed veterinarian care, confining an animal in a way that is likely to cause injury or death, and inflicting excessive or repeated pain and suffering.

"This definition does not include proper maintenance of animals for show or sport; use of animals for food, lawful hunting, fishing or trapping," the FBI statement added.

While disappointed that the new policy will not cover industrial animal production and does nothing to reverse so-called "Ag-Gag" laws — which ban the taking of photos or video inside a factory farm without permission — animal welfare advocates applauded the move.

"It's an excellent thing and it has two immediate effects," said John Goodwin, director of animal abuse policy at the Humane Society of America (HSUS). "First, the fact that the FBI is taking animal cruelty crimes seriously enough to track them sends a message to all law enforcement agencies that this is a serious concern and they need to take it very seriously." The second result will be real-time tracking of animal abuse in all 50 states, as compiled in monthly crime reports by local law enforcement. Data reporting will begin in January 2016.

"Accurate data will give people information on what needs to be done about the problem," Goodwin said. "It can tell us the geographical range of the crimes and which individuals are committing them." That information could help alleviate the problem. "There are different ways to tackle different types of cruelty," Goodwin said. The answer to neglect, for example, may be better education, acts of torture will require stronger penalties and serious psychological counseling, while animal fighting data will show where gambling profits need to be addressed. The new classification could also put more teeth into the enforcement of animal cruelty laws on the state level, according to Madeline Bernstein, president and CEO of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles. "It will help get better sentences, sway juries and make for better plea bargains," she told the Associated Press. The new classification will also help identify juvenile offenders, who sometimes go on to harm or kill people. “We’re very, very pleased. A lot of good things are happening in law enforcement now, and we can continue to make the world a better place for animals,” said HSUS’s Goodwin. “But a lot of policy making still needs to be done before we reach the point of referring to ourselves as a completely humane nation.”

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FBI Turns Animal Cruelty into Top-Tier Felony

Los Angeles - Young people who torture and kill animals are prone to violence against people later in life if it goes unchecked, studies have shown. A new federal category for animal cruelty crimes will help root out those pet abusers before their behavior worsens and give a boost to prosecutions, an animal welfare group says.

To read more on this story, click here: FBI Turns Animal Cruelty into Top-Tier Felony

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Starting Next Year The FBI Will Add Animal Cruelty Cases To National Crime Report

The Federal Bureau of investigation announced this week that it will start reporting crimes of animal cruelty - intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly taking an action that mistreats or kills any animal without just cause, such as torturing, tormenting, mutilation, maiming, poisoning, or abandonment.

The FBI will treat animal cruelty  as a separate offense under its uniform reporting system, leading the way for more comprehensive statistics on animal abuse.

Previously, crimes against animals were recorded under a generic “all other offense” category in the Uniform Crime Report, widely considered the most comprehensive source of crime statistics in the United States.

More recently, social media sites have provided platforms for caught-on-tape exposés and forums focused on publicly shaming animal abusers. The proliferation of such online venues has helped fuel the outrage of many Americans.

The Humane Society, the Animal Welfare Institute Program and the Animal Legal Defense Fund were among the groups to laud FBI Director James B. Comey's decision to include animal cruelty as a distinct category on the annual index, the nation's prime source for US crime information.

Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, wrote on his blog on Wednesday, "No longer will extremely violent cases be included in the 'other offense' category simply because the victims were animals."

Included are:

• Instances of duty to provide care, e.g., shelter, food, water, care if sick or injured;
• Transporting or confining an animal in a manner likely to cause injury or death;
• Causing an animal to fight with another;
• Inflicting excessive or repeated unnecessary pain or suffering, e.g., uses objects to beat or injure an animal.

This definition does not include proper maintenance of animals for show or sport or use of animals for food, lawful hunting, fishing or trapping.

Before establishing the special category, there was no easy way to track the number of animal cruelty cases in the US But high-profile cases ranging from NFL quarterback Michael Vick's illegal dog fighting ring to a puppy-kicking episode implicating Desmond Hague, the former CEO of a sports catering company that provides services to several NFL teams, have helped shine a national spotlight on the issue.

The issue is a national problem, while cruelty cases occurring in all 50 states.



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