IROPO International Registry of Pet Offenders

Open data for animal welfare

Tracking animal cruelty across the United States and beyond, one verifiable record at a time.

IROPO, the International Registry of Pet Offenders, brings official crime data and public records together into a single, transparent source of truth for advocates, shelters, journalists and the public. It covers the United States today, and China and India, the only countries with more people, are next.

Explore the data How the registry works
8.8 offenses per 100,000 residents Among populations covered by NIBRS reporting, 2025
30% cleared by arrest or exception 8,089 clearances recorded in 2025
4,394 agencies recorded at least one case of 12,904 agencies in the FBI's 2025 tables
24,853 known offenders 40% women, compared with 28% across all crimes

Where it is reported

Animal cruelty offenses per 100,000 residents, 2025

All states

Reported rates vary widely. Delaware, Oklahoma and North Dakota report the highest rates, but a high rate can reflect how thoroughly agencies record and submit cruelty cases, not only how often cruelty happens.

Hatched states either have NIBRS coverage below half the population or report almost no cruelty despite broad coverage, a sign of a reporting gap. Select any state to see its trend, the agencies reporting cases and data caveats.

Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), via the Crime Data Explorer. Retrieved September 30, 2026. Methodology & downloads.

  • Per 100,000
  • under 4.6
  • 4.6–6.1
  • 6.1–7.9
  • 7.9–8.9
  • 8.9–11.6
  • 11.6–16.7
  • 16.7+
  • Not comparable
AL 13.7 AK 7.2 AZ 13.9 AR 4.5 CA 4.9 CO 16.7 CT 4.4 DE 135.8 DC – FL 5.2 GA 9.0 HI 10.3 ID 4.6 IL 6.1 IN 8.9 IA 8.0 KS – KY 5.6 LA 18.2 ME 4.2 MD 8.9 MA 2.7 MI 10.5 MN 7.8 MS 9.1 MO 9.1 MT 15.6 NE 8.8 NV 8.4 NH 18.0 NJ 1.7 NM 8.8 NY 1.6 NC 7.9 ND 21.3 OH 5.1 OK 23.6 OR 12.6 PA 7.8 RI 6.7 SC 11.6 SD 6.2 TN 10.5 TX 12.7 UT 5.5 VT 7.6 VA 15.5 WA 6.0 WV 3.0 WI 8.0 WY 17.6

Who is reported

Animal cruelty offenders don't look like other offenders

Offender demographics

40%

of known animal cruelty offenders in 2025 were women, compared with 28% of offenders across all crimes.

18%

were over 55, more than double the share among all offenders (9%).

3%

were juveniles, versus 10% of all offenders. Most reported cruelty is committed by adults.

Source FBI NIBRS Tables, Offenders by age, sex and age category, 2025. Retrieved September 30, 2026. Methodology & downloads.

How it works

Building the registry responsibly

Roadmap
  1. 1

    Collect

    Live

    Official FBI data for every state and DC is downloaded automatically, with checksums and retrieval dates.

  2. 2

    Normalize

    Live

    19,636 agencies are linked by their ORI codes and joined to yearly case counts.

  3. 3

    Verify

    In progress

    Two-reviewer verification and a dispute process are being designed before any individual record is accepted.

  4. 4

    Publish

    In progress

    Aggregate statistics are live today. Individual listings wait for legal review.

No individuals are listed yet (0 published records). Publishing names carries real legal and ethical risk. IROPO will only list adjudicated cases backed by court records or official registries, after two-person review, with a working correction and removal process. Until then, IROPO links to 43 official government registries.

Get involved

Help build a trustworthy registry

Share a data source

Know of court portals, state registries or agency records we should evaluate? Tell us.

Volunteer your skills

Engineers, designers, researchers and legal professionals all have a place on the project.

Support the work

Hosting credits, pro bono legal review and sponsorships keep IROPO independent.