Child and animal protection professionals have long recognized the well-established link between animal abuse, child abuse, domestic violence and other forms of violence, noting that abuse of both children and animals is part of a cycle of violence. When animals in a home are abused or neglected, it is a warning sign that others in the household may not be safe. In addition, children who witness animal abuse are at a greater risk of becoming abusers of animals (and other people) themselves.
Many young children go through a stage during which they may hurt insects or other small creatures in the process of exploring their world. Such behavior, when it occurs only rarely, has not been linked to abusive or aggressive tendencies in later life. Nevertheless, experts caution parents and other adults to gently but firmly step in, teaching the child about boundaries and the importance of respecting other beings. If a child persists in this type of behavior or intentionally injures or kills cats, dogs, birds, or other animals, further intervention for the child is necessary, including counseling.
Some children who abuse animals come from violent families; one indicator of child abuse is when children commit cruelty to animals. If a child is reported to abuse animals, there’s a need for a thorough evaluation of the child and family to determine if other forms of abuse are present and to offer help to the family.
To help address the problem in a broader way, in many communities child welfare staff, animal services and law enforcement agencies are sharing resources and expertise to address violence through cross-training and cross-reporting. For example, in some states animal control officers are required to contact child welfare services if there is a child in a home with an abused animal. Humane societies are also joining with domestic violence shelters to provide emergency shelter for pets of domestic violence victims. In addition, some states have strengthened their animal-cruelty legislation to permit earlier intervention and send a clear message that all forms of violence are taken seriously.
Did You Know?
More American households have pets than have children. We spend more money on pet food than on baby food.
A child growing up in the U.S. is more likely to have a pet than a live-at- home father.
Pets live most frequently in homes with children: 64.1% of homes with children under age 6, and 74.8% of homes with children over age 6, have pets.
In one survey of pet-owning families with substantiated child abuse and neglect, animals were abused in 88% of homes where child physical abuse was present .
Investigation of animal abuse is often the first point of social services intervention for a family at risk of violence or child abuse.
68% of battered women report violence toward their animals; 75% of these women said their children had witnessed this violence against animals. Up to 40% of battered women feel they cannot leave the violent home because of fear of what will happen to their pets.
Abusers kill, harm, or threaten children’s pets to coerce them into sexual abuse or to force them to remain silent about abuse. Disturbed children kill or harm animals to emulate their parents’ conduct, to prevent the abuser from killing the pet, or to take out their aggressions on another victim.
One study of violent offenders incarcerated in a maximum security prison indicated they were significantly more likely than nonviolent offenders to have committed childhood acts of cruelty toward pets.
Source: American Humane Association, www.americanhumane.org (via Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance, www.pa-fsa.org)
