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“One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to kill or torture an animal and get away with it.”
- Anthropologist Margaret Mead
Until recently, violence toward children, domestic violence, and elder violence were considered unrelated to violent acts toward animals. A growing body of research and evidence demonstrates that individuals who perpetrate acts of cruelty against animals rarely stop there. Animal abuse can be a warning sign of future serious violent behavior, especially among young offenders. Increasingly, c hild protection and social service agencies, mental health professionals and educators regard animal abuse as a significant form of aggressive and antisocial behavior, and consider it an important red flag in identifying other violent behavior. Please consider the following facts:
- The FBI considers animal cruelty to be one of the predictors of violence and considers past animal abuse when profiling serial killers.
- National and state studies determined that from 54 to 71 percent of women seeking shelter reported that their partners had threatened, injured or killed one or more family pets (Anicare Model workshop, Tacoma 2004). If children are victims of domestic violence they may in turn represent that abuse with an animal, the only being they feel they can control.
- In assessing youth who are at risk of committing interpersonal violence, the U.S. Department of Justice emphasizes the importance of including information about past animal abuse.
- More than 80 percent of families being treated for child abuse were also involved in animal abuse. In 2/3 of the cases, the abusive parent killed or injured the pet. Sadly, in 1/3 of the cases, a child victim continued the cycle of violence by abusing a pet.
- A study in 1997 by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Northeastern University found that 70 percent of all animal abusers have committed at least one other criminal offense and that almost 40 percent had committed violent crimes against people. They also found that over a 20-year period, a group of individuals who had abused animals as youths were five times more likely to commit violent crimes, four times more likely to commit property crimes and three times more likely to have drug or disorderly conduct offenses than a matched group of non animal abusers.
Responding to Animal Abuse
If you live or work closely with children as a teacher, camp counselor, or parent, you come into daily contact with children who look to you as someone they can trust. Consequently, you may hear children talk about animal abuse they have witnessed or even committed. When a child speaks of violence toward an animal, engage him or her in a conversation to find all the information related to the incident. Foster any sense of empathy the child has for the animal, as this is a healthy response.
If you believe a child has hurt an animal, or witnessed animal abuse, please gather all the information available from the child and contact a professional for further guidance. Counselors and mental health workers are often aware of the human/animal violence link and can be very helpful in these situations. Social Services may also need to be called if abuse is taking place in the home. By getting as much information from the child as possible and reporting the situation to animal control, you can help break the cycle of violence in your community. At PAWS, we work to combat violence toward animals and people through our Humane Education Program by nurturing the inherent compassion in every child.
Report Animal Cruelty and Neglect
If anyone, including children, witnesses animal cruelty he or she should report the abuse to animal control unless the report would put the complainant at risk. In this case, social services should be contacted. To minimize the risk, the identity of people who report animal abuse to animal control remains anonymous to the offender. In addition, animal control officers are trained to look for signs of other kinds of domestic violence and are required to report their suspicions to social services.
Click here for tips on identifying and reporting animal cruelty and neglect.
Information & Resource List
Below is a list of resources on the link between human and animal violence
Organizations
Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) First Strike Campaign
The First Strike campaign was implemented by the HSUS in 1997 to increase public and professional awareness about the correlation between animal cruelty and human violence. First Strike offers investigative support, rewards, expert testimony, and information on the animal-human cruelty connection to law enforcement and prosecutors in high-profile animal cruelty cases.
In addition to the above resources, HSUS conducts an annual study of animal cruelty cases.
Contact: The Humane Society of the United States, 2100 L Street, NW, Washington D.C. 20037 phone: (202) 452-1100, fax: (301) 258-3081.
Website: www.hsus.org/hsus_field/first_strike_the_connection_between_animal_cruelty
_and_human_violence/
The Latham Foundation
This organization offers “Breaking the Cycles of Violence: A Practical Guide,” a 26-minute video and 64-page training manual developed to help human service and animal care professionals do their jobs more effectively by recognizing, reporting, investigating, and treating their interrelated forms of family violence.
Contact: The Latham Foundation, Latham Plaza Building, 1826 Clement Avenue, Alameda, CA 95401
phone: (510) 521-0920, fax: (510) 521-9861.
Website: www.latham.org
Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF)
A national non-profit organization of attorneys, law students, professors, and other legal professionals who work to ensure enforcement of state and federal animal protection laws.
Anti-Cruelty Division: 919 SW Taylor Street, Fourth Floor, Portland, OR 97205-2542,
phone: (503) 231-1602, fax: (503) 231-1578
email: action@aldf.org
National Office: 127 Fourth Street, Petaluma, CA 94952-3005
phone: (707) 769-7771, fax: (707) 769-0785
email: info@aldf.org
Website: www.aldf.org
American Humane Association (AHA) - National Resource Center on the Link Between Violence to People and Animals
AHA’s Campaign Against Violence works to protect children and animals through public education, advocacy with state legislatures and training for animal control officers and humane professionals. AHA offers brochures, fact sheets and other publications that are devoted to this topic.
Contact: American Humane Association, 63 Inverness Drive East, Englewood, CO 80112-5117
phone: toll-free (866) 242-1877, fax: (303) 792-5333.
Website: www.americanhumane.org
Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights (AVAR)
AVAR is a non-profit organization comprised of veterinarians committed to educating the public about animal welfare issues around veterinary medicine, factory farming, and animal testing.
Contact: Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights (AVAR), P.O. Box 208, Davis, California 95617-0208
phone: (530) 759-8106, fax: (530) 759-8116
email: info@avar.org
Website: www.avar.org
Doris Day Animal League (DDAL)
The “Beyond Violence: The Human-Animal Connection” program provides resources to professionals that work with perpetrators and victims of animal abuse, such as police officers, child psychologists, animal control officers and teachers. The program includes workshops and comic books for teens.
Contact: Doris Day Animal League , 227 Massachusetts Avenue NE, STE 100, Washington D.C. 20002,
phone: (202) 546-1649 or (888)772-9329.
Website: www.ddal.org
Pet-Abuse.Com
Pet-Abuse.com is a non-profit organization based out of Del Mar, California that is dedicated to increasing public awareness about the animal cruelty/human violence connection.
Contact: Pet-Abuse.Com, P.O. Box 2995, Del Mar, CA 92014-5995
phone: (866) 240-1179, fax: (775) 659-5430, email: info@pet-abuse.com
Website: www.pet-abuse.com
Spokane County Domestic Violence Consortium (SCDVC)
The SCDVC is a private, nonprofit organization comprised of over two hundred members in Spokane County, Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. The SCDVC works with the community to develop a local, comprehensive response to intimate partner violence in Spokane, Washington. Members include law enforcement, legal services, the courts, medical and social service providers, education, military and religious institutions, private business, intimate partner violence survivors and community volunteers. They offer a wide variety of resources and reference material on the connection between animal cruelty and intimate partner violence.
Contact: Spokane County Domestic Violence Consortium, 525 E. Mission, Spokane, WA 99202,
phone: (509) 487-6783
email: scdvcmail@domesticviolence.net.
Website: www.domesticviolence.net
Model Programs
The Greenhill Humane Society Domestic Violence Assistance Program: Protecting Women and their Pets
In a community partnership with Womanspace, the Lane County Domestic Violence Council, Lane County Victim Services, and Sacred Heart Medical Center, Greenhill Humane Society offers emergency shelter for companion animals of women at risk.
Contact: Johnni Prince, Executive Director, Greenhill Humane Society/SPCA, 88530 Green Hill Road, Eugene, OR 97402, phone: (541) 689-1503, fax: (541) 689-5261, email: information@green-hill.org
Website: www.green-hill.org
The Childhood Trust Communities Networking for People and Animal Welfare (CN-PAW)
CN-PAW is a joint effort of concerned citizens, Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and the University of Cincinnati. CN-PAW offers an information exchange among members of protective services agencies, law enforcement, prosecutor’s offices, child advocate centers, treatment settings, battered women shelters, and residential schools.
Contact: Barbara W. Boat, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director, The Childhood Trust, Department of Psychiatry, ML 0539, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 45267-0539, phone: (513) 558-9007, fax: (513) 558-4107.
Safe Haven/SPCA of Texas Educational Outreach Program for Kids
Safe Haven offers educational and therapeutic activities to children and their families who are temporarily in domestic shelters. The SPCA also offers a foster care program for animals whose families are in transition in local domestic violence shelters or Red Cross shelters. Contact: Kim Conover, SPCA of Texas, 362 S. Industrial Blvd., Dallas, TX, 75207, phone: (214) 651-9611, fax: (214) 651-9244, email: kconover@spca.org
Saddle Up/The Arizona Humane Society
Saddle Up is a state-licensed equine therapy program where troubled youth work hands-on with horses.
Contact: Julie Bank, Education Director, Arizona Humane Society, 9226 N. 13th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85201, phone (602) 870-1999, fax: (602) 395-3862.
Articles & Books
“Animal Abuse and Youth Violence.” Juvenile Justice Bulletin. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Program. September, 2001. Frank R. Ascione. Phone: (800) 933-9637.
“Another Weapon for Combating Family Violence: Prevention of Animal Abuse.” Animal Law. Volume 4, 1998, pp. 1-31. Phone: (503) 768-6798.
“Child Abuse, Domestic Violence and Animal Abuse - Linking the Circles of Compassion for Prevention and Intervention.” Edited by Frank R. and Phil Arkow. Purdue University Press, 1999. Phone: (800) 933-9637.
Cruelty to Animals and Interpersonal Violence - Readings in Research and Application. Edited by Frank R. Ascione, The Humane Society of the United States, Randall Lockwood, and Utah State University. Purdue University Press, 1999. Phone: (800) 933-9637.
“Violence Prevention and Intervention: A Directory of Animal-Related Programs.” The Humane Society of the United States, 2100 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037, phone: (202) 452-1100.
“The Vicious Circle”http://www.ddal.org/pdf/guardian/Vicious%20Circle.pdf
Originally published in fall of 1998, in the Doris Day Animal League’s Animal Guardian, this article explores contemporary cases of children with a history of animal abuse that eventually turned their lethal attention toward classmates, relatives and teachers. The article concludes with links to the websites of organizations with humane education programs designed to recognize and reverse patterns of juvenile violence before they claim either animal or human victims.
“On Beyond Violence”
Originally from the summer 2000 edition of DDAL’s Animal Guardian, this article by psychologist Mary Lou Randour describes the joint project between the Doris Day Animal Foundation (DDAF) and Psychologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PSYETA) being used to train police, judges, prosecutors, animal control, domestic violence and child protective service professionals how to recognize and deal with the violence connection. In addition to DDAF’s booklet on this subject, the program also uses a video and PSYETA’s discussion guide, The AniCare Model of Treatment for Animal Abuse.
“Forgotten Victims of Domestic Violence”
Doris Day Animal Foundation’s Director of Programs Vicki Stevens, deals with the dilemma often faced by women in abusive situations who remain with a violent partner for fear that their cherished companion animals my be tortured or killed in their place if left behind. This article examines several model programs that help these women get themselves and their children to safety by providing a secure shelter for their animals, and offers a number of ways you can help both human and animal victims of domestic violence.
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