El Paso Police Department Forms Animal Cruelty Unit

The El Paso Police Department now has a special unit to investigate animal cruelty allegations.

People treating their animals badly now have an EPPD task force looking for them. According to the El Paso Times:

The Animal Cruelty Investigative Unit was started last month to deal with what police described as an underreported crime in El Paso.  Before then, animal abuse allegations were handed to detectives dealing with other crimes at each of the five police regional command centers.

Animal cruelty cases have been highlighted recently by both state and national law enforcement agencies.

In June, the Texas Legislature approved Senate Bill 762, which raised the worst cases of animal cruelty to a third-degree felony punishable by as many as 10 years in prison. The bill was co-sponsored by state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso.  In January 2016, the FBI added animal cruelty as a category to its national Uniform Crime Report. - EP Times