On July 9, 2024, the Crime in Washington 2023 Annual Report was released. The report is compiled annually from data submitted by Washington State law enforcement agencies to the Washington State Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.
The Washington State UCR Program was activated in October 1979 and collection of the monthly data from contributing agencies began in January 1980. However, it wasn’t until September 2018 that all WA law enforcement agencies contributed monthly data to the program. All offenses are classified according to National UCR offense definitions and are not necessarily identical to the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) or local ordinance definitions.
Animal Cruelty is categorized as a Crime Against Society and is defined as “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly taking an action that mistreats or kills any animal without just cause.” It is further clarified to include “torturing, tormenting, mutilation, maiming, poisoning, or abandonment. 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 torture an animal. This definition does not include proper maintenance of animals for show or sport; use of animals for food, lawful hunting, fishing, or trapping.”
From 2022 to 2023, Animal Cruelty crimes across Washington State increased by 3% (365 in 2022 to 376 in 2023) and one animal cruelty offense now occurs every 23.3 hours. In the past 5 years, animal cruelty crimes in Washington State have increased 93%. However, arrests for animal cruelty offenses are down 24% (85 in 2022 to 65 in 2023).
This is particularly shocking as the number of Intentional Abuse/Torture offenses stayed flat and Animal Sexual Abuse crimes rose by 80%, to 18 in 2023. Over the last 5 years, animal sexual abuse offenses are up 157% and we now average 1.5 per month across the state.
Intentional Abuse or Torture and Simple/Gross Neglect offenses continued to make up the vast majority of animal cruelty crimes for the year, with over 65% occuring inside a home or residence.
Some other interesting data points regarding animal cruelty offenses include:
93.8% of offenses were committed by adults
6.2% were committed by children between 11-15 years old
6.9% indicated substance use during the commission of the crime
Of the 65 offenders arrested, 60% were male and 40% were female
The Crime in Washington report also provides select information on each county and city. In Seattle specifically, animal cruelty crimes rose 18% since 2022, with 46 crimes occurring in 2023, a new all time high. Seattle also saw 11 arrests for animal cruelty crimes, an 83% increase since 2022.
