Animal abuse among preadolescents directly and indirectly victimized at school and at home

Animal Abuse as an Indicator of Domestic Violence: One Health, One Welfare Approach

For years now, the importance of animal cruelty has been gaining recognition in the industrialized cities of the West. Animal cruelty encompasses any act that causes a non-human animal unnecessary pain or suffering, including negligence, abandonment, abuse, torture, bestiality, and even theriocide. This represents a red flag for society as a whole because people who commit such acts can escalate violence and direct it to other individuals. Animal cruelty and interpersonal violence—as well as other socially undesirable conduct such as bullying, antisocial personality disorder, rape, and serial murder—are closely related, so timely diagnoses of either one can help prevent acts of aggression. It is necessary, therefore, to analyze and try to understand whether there are early indicators that may help identify potentially violent individuals. It is well known that kids from homes with actual violence in their homes show a high tendency to reproduce such behaviors with both animals and other people. In conclusion, much research and rethinking of the importance of the veterinarian in detecting animal abuse and cruelty is needed to help detect and prevent cases of interpersonal violence that may arise over time.

Explaining Animal Abuse Among Adolescents: The Role of Speciesism

Animal abuse is considered a significant marker of violence towards humans, and understanding its determinants is important. In this first large-scale survey on adolescent animal abuse carried out in France, we introduced and tested the relative explanatory power of a new variable potentially involved in animal abuse: speciesism, defined as the belief that humans are intrinsically more valuable than individuals of other species. In a school sample composed of 12,344 participants aged 13-18 years, we observed that 7.3% of participants admitted having perpetrated animal abuse. Consistent with existing studies, cats and dogs were the animals most often abused. Animal abuse was a solitary behavior approximately half of the time, and in 25% of instances it involved only another person. A multivariate logistic regression revealed that animal abuse was more frequent among males and that it occurred more often among adolescents with less positive family climate, lower support from friends, lower attachment to school, and with higher anxio-depressive symptomatology. As implied by the generalized deviance hypothesis, animal abuse was related to more deviant behavior such as drunkenness and bullying. Moreover, this study showed for the first time that animal abuse was higher among adolescents who endorsed speciesist attitudes. These results suggest that beyond psychopathological factors, normative beliefs regarding the value of animals and their human use may also be involved in animal mistreatment.

Using the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) to Study Animal Cruelty: Preliminary Results (2016–2019)

On 1 January 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began collecting data on crimes involving animal cruelty from law enforcement agencies that participate in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) in the United States (U.S.). Prior to 2016, such crimes either went unreported or were lumped into an “all other offenses” category, making it difficult to understand who was committing these crimes and whether there were any connections between crimes perpetrated against animals and crimes in which there was a human victim. Animal cruelty has cruelty has been linked to certain types of human violence and, therefore, it is important for authorities to know more about the people committing these crimes. Preliminary results from an analysis of the first four years (2016–2019) of data are presented. The age and gender of animal cruelty offenders, the time of day when most crimes occur, and the most common locations where offenses take place are presented. The type of animal cruelty involved and details of the other crimes that co-occur with animal cruelty are discussed. The limitations of the data are shared and recommendations are made about other types of data that could be collected in the future to add value to the data.

“Humane Criminology”: An Inclusive Victimology Protecting Animals and People

To those who primarily associate the word “humane” with “humane society”, its connection to criminology might appear to be unrelated. The origins of “humane” and “humane society” are complex and primarily reflect an abiding interest in human and societal welfare rather than animal welfare. Consequently, the origins and evolution of the current American association of humane societies with animal protection—as contrasted to its British association with rescuing victims of drowning—remain shrouded in mystery. A new focus that returns to the original roots of “humane” describing the implications of animal cruelty, abuse, and neglect as cause for human and societal concern due to their potential as sentinel indicators and predictors of interpersonal violence, rather than a strict focus on animals’ welfare or their alleged “rights”, holds great promise for advancing legislation and community programming that improves the well-being of human and non-human animal species and the prevention of crime.

Animal Abuse as a Type of Trauma: Lessons for Human and Animal Service Professionals

Animal abuse frequently occurs at the same time and the same place as other types of violence, particularly family violence. Because of that close association, this article proposes that it is the responsibility of both animal service and human service professionals to be aware of its occurrence, understand its significance, and promote appropriate professional and policy responses to it. Research literature addressing the link between animal abuse and other forms of violence ("the link") is discussed. Articles selected for review were published in a peer-reviewed journal, relevant to some aspect of the link between animal abuse and child abuse and/or domestic violence, used either a national or a longitudinal database, or relied on random sampling or a comparison group. If a study was retrospective or drawn from a convenience sample, it had to have been replicated by another study for inclusion. Finally, any measurement instruments used by the study under review must have had acceptable reliability and validity. Legal databases, such as LexisNexis, were used to identify legislation that has been passed and/or court cases that have been decided that were relevant to the topic of "the link." Strong associations were found between domestic violence, child abuse, and animal abuse; animal abuse, whether witnessed or committed, is a form of trauma. Severe animal abuse as a predictor for severe domestic violence recently emerged as a promising association. However, some of these findings on "the link" have not been translated into practice, for example, domestic violence advocates and child protection workers frequently do not ask questions about pets in the family. At the same time, the past 20 years have seen an increase in state and federal legislation and policies that have been enacted, in part, because of the growing body of evidence on the link. Knowledge of the link also has influenced a number of court cases deciding parental rights. Moreover, awareness of the link is illustrated by the passage of pet protection orders for victims of domestic violence as well as the inclusion of pet abuse as a form of domestic violence. Human service and animal service professionals should articulate more ways in which they can communicate with one another, thus adding more information and resources to any intervention or treatment of family violence.

Forensic cases of suspected dog and cat abuse in the Community of Madrid (Spain), 2014-2019

Companion animal abuse is an issue that concerns not only veterinarians and law enforcement agencies but also society in general. Animals that die under suspicious or violent circumstances should be submitted to reference laboratories for a postmortem examination by veterinary forensic pathologists trained to recognize animal abuse. Nevertheless, the low notification rate of such cases in Spain may explain the country's lag in the development of veterinary forensics and the limited information available on animal abuse epidemiology in comparison with other countries. By sharing information among the entities involved in recognizing animal abuse, we can better address these issues, thus improving veterinary forensics in Spain (and elsewhere). In this study, we analysed the cause and manner of death of 96 dog and cat carcasses suspected of animal abuse. These cases were submitted to our diagnostic laboratory for forensic postmortem examination by public agencies and animal protection centres. To our knowledge, this is the first study to focus on the postmortem analysis of forensic cases of suspected dog and cat abuse in Spain. On the basis of gross and histopathological findings, we distinguished between natural and non-natural abuse-related deaths, classifying the latter. We confirmed that most of the dog deaths were related with abuse, though the suspected abuse and the cause of death did not always coincide. In contrast, cause of death was determined to be natural in many of the cat suspected abuse cases. The most frequent non-natural abuse-related cause of death in dogs was blunt force trauma (n=24, 43.64%), followed by firearm injuries (n=10, 18.18%), asphyxia (n=5, 9.09%), heatstroke (n=3, 5.45%), starvation (n=2, 3.64%), bite injury (n=1, 1.82%), and sharp force trauma (n=1, 1.82%). In cats, the most common cause of death was blunt force trauma (n=9, 21.95%), followed by firearm injuries (n=3, 7.32%) and bite injury (n=2, 4.88%). The main goal of our study is to share our results with the scientific community to advance the field of veterinary forensics in Spain, which will lead to more successful prosecutions by law enforcement agencies. Finally, we highlight that veterinarians who can accurately recognize signs of animal abuse may be able to better respond to cases of companion animal cruelty, which in turn, may prevent possible escalation to interpersonal violence.

Human-Animal Relationships and Social Work: Opportunities Beyond the Veterinary Environment

A species-spanning approach that incorporates clients' relationships with their companion animals into family genograms, schools of social work curricula, continuing education, interviews, assessments, and interventions offers increased career opportunities, professional and personal growth and development, and a more comprehensive resolution of clients' issues, social justice concerns, and the prevention of family violence. This article identifies six reasons why social workers should be cognizant of human-animal relationships and introduces nine ways, with action steps, in which social workers can include these relationships into training and practice outside the more developed field of veterinary social work. These venues include: agencies working in child protection and child sexual abuse; children's advocacy centers and courthouse facility dogs; animal shelters; domestic violence shelters; public policy advocacy; clinical practice; agencies working with older and disabled populations; veterinary sentinels for intimate partner violence; and pet support services for homeless populations. Such attention to the human-animal bond can utilize social workers' problem-solving skills to improve delivery of services, identify clients' risk and resiliency factors, enhance social and environmental justice, expand academic inquiry, and increase attention to all of the vulnerable members of families and communities.

"It's a Dog's Life": Culture, Empathy, Gender, and Domestic Violence Predict Animal Abuse in Adolescents-Implications for Societal Health

Whereas the majority of previous research conducted on animal abuse has been in environments where animal abuse is rarely evidenced, the current study investigated the ramifications of animal abuse in an environment wherein the national culture creates an ethos of the "social acceptability" of animal abuse in society. Two survey studies were conducted with adolescent participants, to investigate the role played by several factors in the prediction of animal abuse in this age group. In Study 1, with samples from two different national cultures (101 from Germany and 169 from Romania; 143 boys/135 girls; age 13 to 17), animal abuse was negatively associated with affective empathy and national culture; more frequent animal abuse was found in Romania. Affective empathy fully mediated the association between gender and animal abuse. Specifically, girls were found to be higher in affective empathy; in turn, participants who were higher in affective empathy committed less animal abuse. Witnessing animal abuse was also predictive of engaging in animal abuse, but not independent of national culture. In Study 2, 15-year-old males ( n = 21) and females ( n = 39) took part, 29 from rural and 31 from urban locations in Romania. Rural adolescents were more likely to abuse animals and had higher exposure to domestic violence, which (in turn) was associated with more animal abuse. The implications of these findings in a society where animal abuse is encouraged and enacted on a national scale are discussed.

Females who maltreat animals

Studies of animal maltreatment and of untoward or abnormal aggression predominantly involve male subjects, raising the question as to whether females who engage in such behaviors are like, or fundamentally different than, their male counterparts. Inquiry to address this issue could pertain to gender similarities and differences; moreover, it could provide greater understanding of the behavior itself, in this case, animal maltreatment. Of the various patterns of animal maltreatment in the literature, there are enough studies with gender addressed to allow some observations on two patterns: animal cruelty in childhood and animal hoarding. Animal cruelty among girls may be more common than is widely assumed, but substantial recurrent cruelty appears, as expected, to be more common among males and is consistent with conduct disorder occurring more frequently among boys. Females, especially older females who live alone, predominate among animal hoarders, whose psychology is altogether different from those who engage in antisocial cruelty. The potential significance of these observations is discussed within the contexts of developmental and gender psychology.

Children who abuse animals: when should you be concerned about child abuse? A review of the literature

Animal abuse by children is common, with 3-44% of children being reported to abuse animals at some point during their childhood. Much of this behaviour may be regarded as an extension of exploratory behaviour in a younger child; however, the apparent link between child and animal abuse is an area of increasing interest; with children who abuse animals being 2-3 times more likely to be directly abused themselves. How concerned should a health professional be that a child who abuses animals could themselves be the victim of abuse? We reviewed the literature on the subject, finding that abuse to an animal that is perpetrated by an older child (>10 years) is more likely to be associated with child abuse. Animal abuse is less common in girls compared with boys and there is some suggestion that child abuse may be more likely in these cases. Some papers have reported a higher prevalence of animal abuse in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, developmental delay and conduct disorder, but the relationship with child abuse in these cases is unknown. Information on both child and animal abuse needs to be shared between the veterinary, medical and social care teams in order to protect both children and animals who are vulnerable.

Does Witnessing Animal Cruelty and Being Abused During Childhood Predict the Initial Age and Recurrence of Committing Childhood Animal Cruelty?

The goal of the current study was to examine the association between demographic characteristics and childhood experiences on the respondents' age of committing childhood animal cruelty and its recurrency. Using data collected from 257 male inmates at a Southern medium-security state prison, the current study seeks to replicate a study by Hensley, Tallichet, and Dutkiewicz. Results revealed that those respondents who were physically abused as children reported engaging in recurrent animal cruelty. The younger the age of respondent for first witnessing animal cruelty, the sooner his initiation to hurting and killing animals occurred. In addition, those who reported witnessing a parent commit acts of animal abuse reported that they committed animal abuse themselves at an older age, while those who witnessed a brother/sister commit animal abuse reported engaging in it at an earlier age. Therefore, physical abuse and witnessing primary socializers engage in animal abuse seem to be important in understanding the respondents' age of onset and repeated childhood animal cruelty.

The Morality of Men Convicted of Domestic Violence: How It Supports the Maintenance of the Moral Self-Concept

The phenomenon of abuse toward women is a prevalent social problem in most societies. In the present work, we take into consideration the abusive man's point of view with particular reference to the sphere of their morality and set as aims: (a) to show that high levels of self-deception are mediating between an extreme moral worldview, called moral absolutism, and a functional high moral self-concept, (b) to analyze the relation of the five moral foundations (Harm, Fairness, Ingroup, Authority, and Purity) with this moral absolutism, and (c) to test a comprehensive model of the relationships between the individuated variables in the preceding hypotheses. Participants are 264 men convicted of domestic violence offenses, who, having begun court-mandated psychological treatment lasting 12 weeks, have filled out a self-report questionnaire during the second meeting. The results reveal that (a) self-deception is as a full mediator between moral absolutism and moral self-concept in men convicted of domestic violence and in such a way that the more they felt right about their moral beliefs, the more they deceived themselves, and the more they felt good about themselves, (b) the moral foundations could be explaining moral absolutism understood as a rigid moral vision of the world, and (c) the tested model produces satisfying fit indices. Finally, we discuss the applied implications, for example, a key role can be played by the family and the school: Moral socialization begins within the family and there finds the first push that will accompany it the rest of life.

Parental predictors of children's animal abuse: findings from a national and intergenerational sample

This study examines the intra- and intergenerational links between intimate partner violence (IPV) and animal abuse by analyzing a national, longitudinal, and multigenerational sample of 1,614 individuals collected by the National Youth Survey Family Study from 1990 to 2004. Using multilevel random-intercept regression modeling, parents' own history of animal abuse is predictive of their later involvement in IPV perpetration and victimization, net of important controls. In turn, parents' IPV violent perpetration (but not violent victimization) is predictive of their children's history of animal abuse-measured 14 years later. Intergenerational continuity of animal abuse, however, is not significant. Implications of these findings are discussed, as are the study's limitations, and future research directions.

Testing the direct, indirect, and moderated effects of childhood animal cruelty on future aggressive and non-aggressive offending

The relationship between childhood cruelty toward animals and subsequent aggressive offending was explored in 1,336 (1,154 male, 182 female) participants from the 11-wave Pathways to Desistance study (Mulvey, 2013). Aggressive and income offending at Waves 1 through 10 were regressed onto a dichotomous measure of prior involvement in animal cruelty and four control variables (age, race, sex, early onset behavior problems) assessed at Wave 0 (baseline). Results indicated that childhood animal cruelty was equally predictive of aggressive and non-aggressive (income) offending, a finding inconsistent with the hypothesis that cruelty toward animals desensitizes a person to future interpersonal aggression or in some way prepares the individual for interpersonal violence toward humans. Whereas a significant sex by animal cruelty interaction was predicted, there was no evidence that sex or any of the other demographic variables included in this study (age, race) consistently moderated the animal cruelty-subsequent offending relationship. On the other hand, two cognitive-personality measures (interpersonal hostility, callousness/unemotionality) were found to successfully mediate the animal cruelty-subsequent offending relationship. Outcomes from this study imply that a causal nexus-partially or fully mediated by hostility, callousness/unemotionality, and other cognitive-personality variables-may exist between childhood animal cruelty and subsequent offending, although the effect is not specific to violence.

Is childhood cruelty to animals a marker for physical maltreatment in a prospective cohort study of children?

Childhood cruelty to animals is thought to indicate that a child may have been maltreated. This study examined: (a) prevalence of cruelty to animals among 5- to 12-year-old children; (b) the association between cruelty to animals, child physical maltreatment, and adult domestic violence; and (c) whether cruelty to animals is a marker of maltreatment taking into account age, persistence of cruelty, and socioeconomic disadvantage. Data were from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, an epidemiological representative cohort of 2,232 children living in the United Kingdom. Mothers reported on cruelty to animals when children were 5, 7, 10, and 12 years, on child maltreatment up to age 12, and adult domestic violence. Nine percent of children were cruel to animals during the study and 2.6% persistently (≥2 time-points). Children cruel to animals were more likely to have been maltreated than other children (OR=3.32) although the majority (56.4%) had not been maltreated. Animal cruelty was not associated with domestic violence when maltreatment was controlled for. In disadvantaged families, 6 in 10 children cruel to animals had been maltreated. In other families, the likelihood of maltreatment increased with age (from 3 in 10 5-year-olds to 4.5 in 10 12-year-olds) and persistence (4.5 in 10 of those persistently cruel). Although childhood cruelty to animals is associated with maltreatment, not every child showing cruelty had been maltreated. The usefulness of cruelty to animals as a marker for maltreatment increases with the child's age, persistence of behavior, and poorer social background.

Interpersonal barriers to stopping animal abuse: exploring the role of adolescent friendship norms and breeches

Research into bystander apathy has focused on the barriers to intervening when the perpetrators and witnesses of violence are strangers. Although violence also occurs in the presence of friends, family, and other close ties, it is unclear how these affiliations constrain the behavior of bystanders in these situations. To explore this question, qualitative interviews were conducted with 25 adolescents who were bystanders to animal abuse committed and/or witnessed by family members, friends, or known others. Most interviewees claimed that, despite feeling disturbed by the animal abuse, they did little if anything to stop the abuse and did not report it to adult authority figures. Friendship norms and breeches presented most interviewees with significant barriers that either stopped or tempered their interventions. Implications of these findings are discussed for educating adolescents to intervene on behalf of abused animals.

Non-accidental injuries found in necropsies of domestic cats: a review of 191 cases

Animal cruelty is defined as a deliberate action that causes pain and suffering to an animal. In Brazil, legislation known as the Environmental Crimes Law states that cruelty toward all animal species is criminal in nature. From 644 domestic cats necropsied between January 1998 and December 2009, 191 (29.66%) presented lesions highly suggestive of animal cruelty. The main necroscopic finding was exogenous carbamate poisoning (75.39%) followed by blunt-force trauma (21.99%). Cats from 7 months to 2 years of age were the most affected (50.79%). In Brazil, violence is a public health problem and there is a high prevalence of domestic violence. Therefore, even if laws provide for animal welfare and protection, animals are common targets for violent acts. Within a context of social violence, cruelty toward animals is an important parameter to be considered, and the non-accidental lesions that were found are evidence of malicious actions.

Psychological profile of male and female animal abusers

This study had three purposes: to explore psychological characteristics of animal abusers (criminal thinking styles, empathy, and personality traits), to replicate previously reported results (past illegal actions, bullying behavior), and to examine potential gender differences. The self-reported animal abuser group was 29 college students who reported two or more incidents of animal abuse; controls were 29 college students matched on age and gender. Participants completed self-report measures of criminal thinking, illegal behaviors, bullying, empathy, and the five-factor personality traits. Results indicated animal abusers had more previous criminal behaviors, were more likely to bully, and had the highest scores on the power orientation criminal thinking scale. Abuser by gender interactions were detected; female animal abusers scored significantly higher on several measures of criminal thinking, were found to be more likely to bully, and exhibited lower scores on measures of perspective taking and empathy compared to female controls.

Conceptualising Animal Abuse with an Antisocial Behaviour Framework

Simple Summary

There is increasing acceptance of the links between animal abuse and aggressive or antisocial behaviours toward humans. Nevertheless, researchers and other professionals continue to call for methodologically sound empirical research amongst claims that current animal abuse research is methodologically limited. Below, I argue that current conceptualizations of antisocial and aggressive human behavior logically incorporate animal abuse. Given that the body of empirical evidence available to support of theories of antisocial and aggressive behaviour is large and sound, conceptualization of animal abuse as an aggressive behaviour rather than a behaviour that is somehow different, enables us to confidently promote putting current understanding into practice.

Abstract

This paper reviews current findings in the human aggression and antisocial behaviour literature and those in the animal abuse literature with the aim of highlighting the overlap in conceptualisation. The major aim of this review is to highlight that the co-occurrence between animal abuse behaviours and aggression and violence toward humans can be logically understood through examination of the research evidence for antisocial and aggressive behaviour. From examination through this framework, it is not at all surprising that the two co-occur. Indeed, it would be surprising if they did not. Animal abuse is one expression of antisocial behaviour. What is also known from the extensive antisocial behaviour literature is that antisocial behaviours co-occur such that the presence of one form of antisocial behaviour is highly predictive of the presence of other antisocial behaviours. From such a framework, it becomes evident that animal abuse should be considered an important indicator of antisocial behaviour and violence as are other aggressive and antisocial behaviours. The implications of such a stance are that law enforcement, health and other professionals should not minimize the presence of animal abuse in their law enforcement, prevention, and treatment decisions.

Prevention of public health risks linked to bullying: a need for a whole community approach

Bullying is a very toxic psychosocial stressor associated with serious health problems and death, affecting both the victims and the bullies. This form of abuse or maltreatment occurs around the world and along the lifespan. Health professionals have the unique responsibility of promoting the development of community initiatives for the prevention of bullying and related health problems. This effort must include ongoing programs with elements of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. These programs should be supported and monitored by a public health policy with a strategy aimed at developing a whole community awareness about bullying and the related health risks, prohibiting bullying, and developing emotionally and physically safe environments in schools and workplace settings. Public health policy should mandate the monitoring, detection, and reporting of bullying incidents; provide guidance for school intervention; and offer guidelines for medical consultation.

The relationship between domestic violence and animal abuse: an Australian study

Several North American studies have found a connection between domestic violence and animal abuse. This article reports on the first Australian research to examine this connection. A group of 102 women recruited through 24 domestic violence services in the state of Victoria and a nondomestic violence comparison group (102 women) recruited from the community took part in the study. Significantly higher rates of partner pet abuse, partner threats of pet abuse, and pet abuse by other family members were found in the violent families compared with the nondomestic violence group. As hypothesized, children from the violent families were reported by their mothers to have witnessed and committed significantly more animal abuse than children from the nonviolent families. Logistic regression analyses revealed, for the group as a whole, that a woman whose partner had threatened the pets was 5 times more likely to belong to the intimate partner violence group.

Empathy-related responses to moving film stimuli depicting human and non-human animal targets in negative circumstances

Research supports an "ingroup empathy hypothesis" of higher empathy-related psychophysiological responses towards individuals of the same ethnicity. However, little research has investigated empathy-related responses to non-human targets graded for phylogenetic relatedness. Participants (N=73) were presented with film stimuli depicting humans, primates, quadruped mammals and birds in victimized circumstances. Phasic skin conductance responses (SCR) and subjective empathy-related ratings to the film clips increased as phylogenetic similarity to humans increased across animal groups, revealing an empathic bias towards human stimuli. Participants also completed a trait empathy scale. High trait empathy participants gave higher subjective empathy ratings than moderate and low trait empathy participants. Low trait empathy participants showed less corrugator electromyographic activity than moderate and high empathy participants. The moderate trait empathy participants showed higher SCR than the high group. The results confirm an effect of phylogenetic similarity in subjective self-report and psychophysiological measures of empathy-related responses. Additionally, convergence between subjective and objective measures of empathy-related responses was observed.