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File photo of Patrick the pitbull. Patrick was starved, then thrown down a trash chute of a Newark high-rise apartment. His story led to stricter penalties for animal abuse in New Jersey.

((Jennifer Brown/The Star-Ledger))

The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced this week that it will start reporting crimes of 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. Starting next year, animal cruelty would be reported as a distinct category, along with major offenses like murder, assault and arson crimes.

Under the changes, animal cruelty would be considered a crime against society and a “Type A” offense with four categories: simple/gross neglect, intentional abuse and torture, organized abuse (such as dog and cock fighting) and animal sexual abuse.

According to the FBI, the official definition of animal cruelty will be:

Animal rights groups had been lobbying for the change for more than a decade, according to the Animal Welfare Institute. The FBI adopted the changes after that group and the National Sheriff’s Association proposed animal cruelty be listed as a separate offense in the National Incident Based Reporting System, from which the Uniform Crime Report is generated, according to Stephen G. Fischer, an FBI spokesman.

New Jersey’s animal welfare community welcomed the news.

Victor “Buddy” Amato, chief law enforcement officer for the Monmouth County SPCA, said his agency has been providing statistics to the FBI for years, which were put to use for internal analyses.

“(Now) they’re going to the next level, which is great,” Amato said. “People are taking animal cruelty more and more seriously. It’s a violent crime, and if it goes unchecked, it leads to bigger things.”

Amato said the changes are part of a larger trend toward increased awareness of animal cruelty issues.

“An animal is a very easy victim,” Amato said. “An animal can’t pick up a phone and call 911.”

Last year, Gov. Chris Christie signed "Patrick's Law," which upgraded animal cruelty from a misdemeanor to a fourth degree offense. The law's namesake was an emaciated pit bull found abandoned in a trash chute whose plight drew national attention as an example of animal abuse. More recently, the Legislature took up the issue of banning piercing and tattooing pets.

The FBI will implement the changes in 2015 and begin accepting data in January of 2016, Fischer said.

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.