The Las Cruces Sun News and the Albuquerque Journal reported on January 24 that a 41-year old Las Cruces man was arrested that previous weekend for allegedly killing a four-month-old border collie puppy by stepping on the dog’s throat. This, according to police, followed a witnessed account earlier that day of the same man holding the puppy against a fence by her neck and kicking her until she stopped yelping. The arrested man allegedly threw the dead puppy in a dumpster. He told police detectives that the female collie’s injuries and death were caused by being hit by a car. In New Mexico, extreme animal cruelty, with which the man is charged, is a fourth degree felony.
At Animal Protection of New Mexico, we regularly hear about atrocities such as this through the animal cruelty hotlines we answer . Because animal cruelty is a serious crime in and of itself, and because there is an incontrovertible link between animal cruelty and other kinds of violent conduct, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) is making plans to create and deliver a training curriculum on the effective investigation of animal cruelty cases, including animal fighting and hoarding. As part of this comprehensive training, a useful field manual will be created and distributed to law enforcement officers, including animal control, throughout the state.
| |
Animal cruelty investigations require specialized training to ensure positive outcomes for animals.
|
In addition, DPS is organizing training that addresses a different but very important aspect of animal cruelty cases: Training of licensed therapists and social workers who counsel perpetrators of violence against animals. The Animals and Society Institute’s peer-reviewed AniCare Model of Treatment for Animal Abuse will be employed for this training. The treatment model was developed to assess and treat people who have abused animals, and focuses on encouraging the abuser’s acknowledgement of his or her behavior, and taking responsibility for those actions. The program, created in 1999, teaches therapists and social workers how to provide direct interventions for their clients that foster accountability, respect and empathy for animals and people, and promote nurturing behavior. The program offers specialized therapeutic techniques for both adult and youth animal abusers. Having an adequate number of trained therapists in New Mexico is essential in order to allow judges to order counseling for minors found guilty of cruelty or extreme cruelty to animals–that counseling is required in New Mexico’s animal cruelty statutes.
Since the 2007 launch of the Attorney General's Animal Cruelty Task Force, law enforcement officers across the state successfully carried out over 30 raids on illegal cockfighting, dog fighting and animal hoarding activities. These raids took place in both rural and urban New Mexico, and demonstrated that the criminality and cruelty of animal fighting and hoarding doesn’t just stop at animals: raids turned up illegal drugs and weapons, and revealed that children are often forced by perpetrators to live in dangerous and abusive situations.
The Department of Public Safety (DPS) recognizes the need to provide law enforcement officers with up-to-date training and supplies for the safe and effective intervention of animal-related crimes. Toward this end, the New Mexico State Police Division is committed to providing high quality, accurate and reliable training and support to all New Mexico law enforcement agencies engaged in enforcing New Mexico’s animal cruelty laws. |
