Interim Director, Human-Animal Bond
The American Humane Association
A compelling body of research is drawing renewed worldwide attention to the links between animal abuse and other forms of family violence. These findings are confirming conventional wisdom that in homes with violent behavior, caseworkers often encounter multiple forms of abuse.
When an animal cruelty, child protection services or domestic violence law enforcement officer conduct investigations, they often will see two or more forms of family violence. They need to have pre-established lines of communication to make referrals to other agencies. This recognition and cross-reporting is critical if we are to stop family violence. When animals are abused, people are at risk, and vice versa. Often, the choice of victim is opportunistic, and whether the victim has two legs or four is a matter of availability.
What we call “The Link”is based on several premises. Because animal abuse may be more readily observed and reported by victims and witnesses, animal welfare investigators are often the first to respond to family violence and the first point of delivery of social services for families in crisis.
Second, thousands of women are trapped in abusive environments out of fear for what will happen to their animals if they leave. Similarly, children’s pets are threatened if the child does not
participate in sexual abuse, or talks about it.
Third, animal abuse often co-exists with other crimes. Police in Chicago have found that more than one-third of their arrests for dog fighting also result in charges for guns, drugs, or gang violations.
Fourth, childhood acts of cruelty to animals are among the earliest “red flag” markers for conduct disorder and signs that a child is heading down a violent road. A dangerous lack of empathy for others often ensues.
Trying to define animal abuse, which varies widely by cultural and historical standards, is a challenge. The U.S. has the world’s oldest anti-cruelty laws (dating to 1641), but it’s like defining pornography -- impossible to describe, but you know it when you see it.
Because “cruelty” implies malicious intent by the perpetrator, which is difficult to prove in a court of law, I prefer the term “animal abuse,” which implies that maltreatment occurred regardless of the perpetrator’s motives. Animal abuse encompasses harmful actions ranging from abandonment to dogfights to hoarding to physical injuries. However, because animal abuse is a crime representing only harm to another’s property, and because the psychological motivations for people committing these acts vary widely, legislators and the courts are reluctant to enact and enforce greater protection for animals. The result is a low community priority for animal welfare.
Research in the 1970s identified cruelty to animals, arson and bedwetting as a triad of behaviors highly prevalent in the childhood histories of sociopaths. In the 1980s we found that most serial killers had committed atrocities against animals in their childhoods, acts that were ignored under the apology that “boys will be boys ” instead of seeing them as potential “red flag” markers.
In the 1990s, we learned that 50% of school shooters have histories of abusing animals.
It’s often assumed that harming animals is the first step down the slippery slope of desensitization, but a 1997 Massachusetts study found not only that 70% of animal abusers had records for other violent crimes, but that 56% of these abusers committed their other crimes before the animal abuse. This tells us that animal abuse is a complex constellation of dysfunction.
Several studies reveal that over 94% of animal abusers are male, and almost 1/3 of cases are committed by teens. Women are responsible for 68% of animal hoarding cases. 21% of animal abuse cases involve other forms of family violence. And while three-quarters of the victims are pets, farm animals and wildlife are also at risk.
Although the child protection movement emerged from animal protection in the 1870s, the two groups have largely pursued parallel paths without much interaction until recent Link research refocused attention on the commonalities of all forms of family violence. In a 1983 study in New Jersey, researchers found that 88% of families investigated for physical child abuse also had abused or neglected pets. This study also found that there were 11 times more dog bites in these families than in non-abusive homes, and that these abusing households see veterinarians at rates almost equal to non-abusive families, forcing us to recognize that veterinarians will see abused patients and clients.
Research is focusing on the links between animal abuse and domestic violence. From 25% to 40% of battered women delay their decision to seek safety because they fear for the safety of the animals they are forced to leave behind. In one study, 71% of women entering safehouses reported their batterer had killed, harmed or threatened animals; 32% said their children had harmed or killed animals, further testimony to how the cycles of violence are intergenerational.
Other studies describe The Link in rural environments. One victim reported, “My husband said if I left he would kill the dog and let the calves die and it would be my fault. When he threatened to kill me, I thought, who would know? The farm is so isolated.”
There are links between animal abuse and elder abuse. 35% of Adult Protective Services caseworkers report their clients talk about their animals being harmed or threatened. 92% see animal neglect co-existing with their clients’ inability to care for themselves.
People outside the animal field often trivialize our work because they do not realize how prevalent pets are. There are more dogs in America than there are people in most European countries – and more cats than dogs! A child growing up in America is more likely today to have a pet than a father. More American households have pets than have children. We spend more money on pet food than on baby food, and the pet industry is our 7th largest economic sector.
This is not to say that animals are more important than people, but rather than in a civil society no family violence is to be tolerated.
We can make three key points about The Link:
- First, animal abuse must be perceived and documented as a human welfare issue.
- Second, animal abuse must be redefined as family violence.
- And third, the network of community caregivers – including veterinarians – must be cross-trained to recognize and report all forms of family violence to agencies empowered to investigate and prosecute it.
Many steps are being taken to protect the health of all family members after these traumas. Psychologists are describing the profiles of animal abusers. Veterinarians are developing clinical criteria to recognize Non-Accidental Injury, similar to manuals developed years ago to help physicians identify the stereotypical bruises, burns and fractures of physical child abuse. Legislation in 42 states has made serious animal abuse a felony. Animal protection officials and veterinarians are being added to the lists of those mandated to report suspected abuse. Several states require persons convicted of animal abuse to undergo anger management or psychological counseling, community service, or to be prohibited from owning pets.
Women’s and animals’ shelters have established “Safe Havens” – foster care programs for pets to remove one barrier to a woman’s escape.
Federal funding is available for community coalitions where human and humane service agencies train each other to recognize and report family violence. A bill pending in the Canadian Parliament would redefine animal cruelty as a crime of violence rather than a crime against property.
Veterinary codes of ethics in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and New Zealand now address The Link. These codes say vets have an ethical obligation to resolve family violence through education, but where such education fails, disclosure may be necessary.
Intervention programs pair juvenile delinquents with homeless dogs from shelters; the teens learn non-violent conflict resolution through training dogs to be more adoptable.
Battered women are encouraged to include their pets in their “Safety Plan.” Public education campaigns are teaching communities that the parent who comes home and kicks the cat is just warming up.
Excellent resources are available from American Humane (www.americanhumane.org) and the Latham Foundation (www.latham.org). Documentation of animal abuse cases and bibliographies are available at this link.
In 1962 the “battered child syndrome” entered medical terminology. In 1979, Lenore Walker wrote “The Battered Woman.” In 1996, Helen Munro coined “battered pets.” We have made much progress in a short time, but we have more to do.
Family violence is a matter of power and control. Often, the choice of victim is opportunistic. Whenever one member of the family is abused, all other members of the family are at risk.
Dr T notes: you can communicate with the author of this piece at Phil Arkow
