ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office opened a new portal for anyone to submit a tip, even anonymously, to their Animal Cruelty Task Force.

“I want to say there’s no limit to the cases we can handle. If we receive a tip, if we receive a call for service where there’s concerns, we’re going to take that case, and we’re going to look into it,” said BCSO Detective Kevin Carhart.

Carhart is now leading some cases for the task force. He is one of about 25 members of the current task force.

“When animals have no voice, it’s up to us to kind of step up and speak out for them if they’re experiencing cruelty,” he said. “If it’s not brought to our attention, we’re not necessarily seeing into the backyard, or we’re not seeing cruel conditions certain animals are living under. So having that tip portal on the sheriff’s website is going to give us access to more information.”

Carhart says of the three large-scale cases the task force has investigated in the last year, two of them involved alleged elder abuse.

“The type of people who tend to neglect animals are also going to neglect the other things in their lives. You know they’re going to victimize the weakest members of the household who aren’t able to speak up for themselves, like the elderly, like children,” said Carhart.

You can submit a tip through the portal here.