On October 1, the FBI announced it is elevating animal cruelty to a Group A felony with a category all its own — similar to homicide, arson and assault. Animal abuse has long been filed under the category of "other" and mishmashed into a pool of lesser crimes, setting a tone of insignificance that belies the depravity of these actions and, often, their perpetrators.

But the evidence is in. Studies consistently show that young people who torture and kill animals are similarly inclined toward people as adults. Jeffrey Dahmer, the Boston Strangler and the Son of Sam tortured, beheaded and mutilated dogs, cats and birds before unleashing their violence on humans. The new category will make it easier to find, count and track animal abusers — and to get young offenders help.

Madeline Bernstein, president and CEO of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles and a former New York prosecutor, emphasizes that the animal cruelty statistics this singular categorization makes possible will allow police and counselors to work with children who show early signs of trouble, so they "won't turn into Dahmer." John Thompson, interim executive director of the National Sheriffs' Association, who worked to get the new animal cruelty category instituted, says, "The immediate benefit is it will be in front of law enforcement every month when they have to do their crime reports. That's something we have never seen."

Here's something else we've never seen:

On October 8, judges in the state of New York heard the first in a series of appeals aimed at granting legal personhood to animals. Tommy the chimp is 26 years old and lives alone in a concrete cage at a trailer sales park in upstate New York. No grass, no trees, no companionship. Steven Wise represents Tommy. Wise is an attorney and founder of the Nonhuman Rights Project, which, in December of 2013, filed suits on behalf of four New York chimpanzees. The other three chimps — all living in captivity, two in laboratories — await their day in court.

The goal of the suits is not to set animals loose in the streets, but to win bodily liberty for these higher-order captives — to free them from what amounts to a life of solitary confinement in an environment decidedly unhealthy and wholly unnatural to their design.

Animal cruelty is now a felony in all 50 states. More people serve prison sentences for animal abuse today than ever before. And the federal government just gave crimes against animals the stamp of legitimacy they deserve. Bodily liberty for Tommy, or Tilikum, or circus elephants, or puppy mill dogs may or may not be on the plate right now, but it's definitely on the menu.

Woof!

Dog trainer Matthew "Uncle Matty" Margolis is co-author of 18 books about dogs, a behaviorist, a popular radio and television guest, and host of the PBS series "WOOF! It's a Dog's Life!" Read all of Uncle Matty's columns at www.creators.com, and visit him at www.unclematty.com. Send your questions to dearuncle.gazette@unclematty.com or by mail to Uncle Matty at P.O. Box 3300, Diamond Springs, CA 95619.