Researchers have found that a batterer’s first target is often an
animal living in the home, the second—a spouse or child. Often,
batterers are able to control their victims, such as a spouse, by
threatening, torturing, and/or killing the victim’s animals.
A study published in the February 2000 Violence Against Women found that
of 111 battered women with companion animals in shelters in South
Carolina, almost half reported that their current or former male
partners had threatened or abused their animals.
A 1995 study of women living in Wisconsin shelters because of domestic
abuse found that 80 percent of their batterers had been violent to their
animals.
A 1997 study found that workers in 85 percent of the largest women’s
shelters in 48 states had heard reports from women about animal abuse
incidents.
A study comparing 101 women who had been living with animals in five
Utah shelters to 120 women who lived with animals and who were not
experiencing domestic violence revealed an almost 50 percent difference
in the incidence of domestic animal abuse reported.
Cruel to Animals, Cruel to Children
Because domestic abuse is directed toward the powerless, animal abuse
and child abuse often go hand in hand. Parents who neglect an animal’s
need for proper care or abuse animals may also abuse or neglect their
own children.
While animal abuse is an important sign of child abuse, the parent
isn’t always the one harming the animal. Children who abuse animals
may be repeating a lesson learned at home; like their parents, they are
reacting to anger or frustration with violence. Their violence is
directed at the only individual in the family more vulnerable than
themselves: an animal. One expert says, “Children in violent homes are
characterized by ... frequently participating in pecking-order
battering,” in which they may maim or kill an animal. Indeed, domestic
violence is the most common background for childhood cruelty to animals.
In 88 percent of 57 New Jersey families being treated for child abuse,
animals in the home had been abused. An unpublished study by Frank
Ascione of Utah State University found a strong pattern suggesting that
child abuse victims are more likely to harm animals. Ascione found that
25.5 percent of physically abused children were cruel to animals, 13.2
percent of sexually abused children were cruel to animals, 34 percent of
both physically and sexually abused children were cruel to animals,
while only 4.7 percent of non-abused children were cruel to animals.
Cross-Reporting: a MultiAgency Approach
Animal abuse is often discovered earlier than child or domestic abuse
because it so often occurs in plain view. While hiding their own abuse,
human victims may talk openly of animal abuse or neglect occurring in
the family. Since laws governing animal abuse and child abuse
investigation and intervention differ, animal control agents can often
enter homes when social service workers cannot. Working together through
cross-reporting, these agencies can help one another gain information
about possible neglect and abuse.
Baltimore police who file domestic violence reports are required to note
the presence and condition of companion animals. The Philadelphia Police
Department plans to add a seminar on cross-reporting to a new training
program for investigators. The New Jersey Coalition for Battered Women
works with animal control to identify signs of domestic violence.
Florida lawmakers have proposed a law that would require child-abuse
investigators to report cruelty to companion animals and animal control
officers to report suspected child abuse.
Studies that have found that up to 40 percent of women have delayed
seeking safety from their batterers for as long as two months because of
concern for their companion animals have led to collaboration among
social service and government agencies to develop programs to provide
foster care for these animals. There are at least 113 of these programs
planned or in existence in the United States.
The oldest program is Colorado Spring’s Domestic Violence Enhanced
Response Team (DVERT). Twenty-six agencies, including the district
attorney’s office, court advocates, human services, domestic violence
groups, and the local humane society, work with police when an animal is
living in the home where a domestic violence investigation is taking
place. The humane society may shelter the animals involved.
A national public opinion survey by the Humane Society of the United
States showed enormous support for cross-reporting: More than four out
of five Americans support having teachers, social workers, animal
welfare officers, and law enforcement officials share information on
juveniles who abuse animals. Four out of five American adults support
requiring social workers, animal welfare workers, and law enforcement
officials to share information on cases of animal abuse to help identify
potential situations of child abuse. Seventy-seven percent favor
establishing a system to track adult animal cruelty offenders to
identify other kinds of likely violent offenses.
In addition to local veterinarians’ becoming involved in
cross-reporting, many provide foster care for the companion animals of
the victims of domestic violence.
