State profile
North Carolina
859 animal cruelty offenses were reported in North Carolina in 2025, or 7.9 per 100,000 residents served by NIBRS agencies, the 28th highest rate of 49 comparable states.
Trend
Reported offenses over time
Lighter bars mark years when NIBRS agencies served less than 60% of residents.
Offenses per year
Monthly offenses
| Year | Total offenses |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2019 | 541 |
| 2020 | 536 |
| 2021 | 620 |
| 2022 | 690 |
| 2023 | 778 |
| 2024 | 813 |
| 2025 | 859 |
| Year | Offenses | Per 100,000 | Clearance rate | Coverage | Agencies in FBI tables | Agencies with cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 859 | 7.94 | 33% | 96.6% | 308 | 144 |
| 2024 | 813 | 7.57 | 28% | 97.2% | 310 | 137 |
| 2023 | 778 | 7.36 | 27% | 97.6% | 327 | 141 |
| 2022 | 690 | 6.62 | 27% | 97.5% | 328 | 143 |
| 2021 | 620 | 6.03 | 31% | 97.5% | 312 | 127 |
| 2020 | 536 | 5.28 | 25% | 95.7% | 288 | 101 |
| 2019 | 541 | 5.88 | 31% | 87.7% | — | — |
| 2018 | 2 | 0.09 | 0% | 22.4% | — | — |
| 2017 | — | — | — | 0.0% | — | — |
| 2016 | 0 | 0.00 | — | 0.1% | — | — |
Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), via the Crime Data Explorer. Retrieved September 30, 2026. Methodology & downloads.
Agencies
Agencies reporting the most cases in 2025
| # | Agency | Type | County | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forsyth County Sheriff's Office NC0340000 | County | Forsyth | 66 | 286 | |
| 2 | Gaston County Police Department NC0360500 | County | Gaston | 63 | 181 | |
| 3 | Raleigh Police Department NC0920100 | City police | Durham, Wake | 51 | 51 | |
| 4 | Davidson County Sheriff's Office NC0290000 | County | Davidson | 33 | 33 | |
| 5 | Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department NC0600100 | City police | Mecklenburg | 29 | 253 | |
| 6 | High Point Police Department NC0410300 | City police | Davidson, Forsyth, Guilford, Randolph | 22 | 71 | |
| 7 | Fayetteville Police Department NC0260100 | City police | Cumberland | 21 | 55 | |
| 8 | Greenville Police Department NC0740300 | City police | Pitt | 16 | 159 | |
| 9 | Surry County Sheriff's Office NC0860000 | County | Surry | 15 | 48 | |
| 10 | Durham County Sheriff's Office NC0320000 | County | Durham | 14 | 71 | |
| 11 | Harnett County Sheriff's Office NC0430000 | County | Harnett | 13 | 72 | |
| 12 | Rutherford County Sheriff's Office NC0810000 | County | Rutherford | 13 | 44 | |
| 13 | New Bern Police Department NC0250200 | City police | Craven | 11 | 39 | |
| 14 | Lenoir County Sheriff's Office NC0540000 | County | Lenoir | 11 | 11 | |
| 15 | Winston-Salem Police Department NC0340200 | City police | Forsyth | 10 | 64 |
Source FBI NIBRS Tables: Offense Type by Agency, 2020–2025; ORIs from the FBI agency directory. Retrieved September 30, 2026. Methodology & downloads.
Official animal abuser registries
We are not aware of a government-run animal abuser registry in North Carolina. Know of one? Tell us.
IROPO links to these registries and does not copy their listings.
Agency directory
The FBI lists 537 law enforcement agencies in North Carolina, 452 of which report through NIBRS.
Our legacy spreadsheet for North Carolina, transcribed from a 1977 NLETS directory, lists 681 entries: 488 ORIs are still in use, 5 look like transcription errors, 53 are federal offices outside the state directory and 135 could not be found. View the crosswalk.
Browse North Carolina agencies