The Link

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The Link

• Animal Cruelty Violence Against Humans

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Who we are

• The Humane Society of Missouri is one of the
  largest and oldest humane organizations in the
  United States.
• We are multi-faceted
• Shelters adoption centers
• Veterinary medical centers
• Longmeadow Rescue Ranch

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Who we are

• Education
• Behavior Training programs
• Rescues Investigations

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The Link three key areas to explore

• Recognition of animal cruelty neglect, why
  people are cruel to animals, evidence of the link
  and why it matters
• Assessment Tools Intervention Strategies
• Prevention

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A few folks from our past

• Ted Bundy
• The Columbine Killers
• Son of Sam
• .used to be anecdotal, but now substantiated
  through FBI serial profiles

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What does it take to become an accomplished
killer?

• Practice
• Practice
• Practice!

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And who do they practice on?

• Animals, the silent victims

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Recognition what is it?

• Animal cruelty
• A person is guilty of animal cruelty when a
  person
• Kills an animal on purpose
• Injures and causes suffering to an animal on
  purpose
• Does not provide adequate care or adequate
  control for an animal the person owns.

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Recognition what is it?

• Animal neglect
• A person is guilty of animal neglect when a
  person
• Has custody, ownership, or both of an animal and
  does not provide adequate care or adequate
  control, and this leads to harm to the animal.
• Animal neglect becomes animal cruelty when the
  person neglects the animal to an extreme degree,
  e.g., starvation, and/or derives satisfaction
  from the neglect.

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Recognition why are people cruel to animals?

• To intimidate people
• To silence people so they wont reveal abuse
• To prevent people from leaving or coerce people
  to return
• To punish people for leaving revenge
• To mimic abuse that the person has suffered
• To spare oneself

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Recognition why are people cruel to animals?

• To exert power/control over something weaker than
  him/herself
• To degrade people through involvement in the
  abuse
• To shock people
• To practice future crimes of violence against
  people or to practice suicide

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Recognition why are people cruel to animals?

• To gain the respect of others
• Abusive parent
• Peers
• Dogfighting contest with
• no winners!

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Dogfighting making a sport of animal cruelty

• Dogfighting is a felony in the state of MO
• Occurs everywhere city, rural communities-no
  zip code is immune
• Dogfighting is closely linked to violence toward
  humans
• A lot of other illegal activities at dogfights
• Guns and other weapons, drugs, gambling
• Animals stolen to help train dogs to fight

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Dogfighting making a sport of animal cruelty

• Children sometimes allowed or forced to watch
• Effects on the community -
• Dogfighting promotes hardness desensitizes to
  animal cruelty, suffering and violence as well as
  disrespect for the law
• Increases the risk of attacks on others
• Small pets and animals are stolen to be used as
  bait
• Trunkingthe latest trend

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Dogfighting making a sport of animal cruelty

• Increases the presence of other illegal
  activities in a community drugs, weapons,
  gambling
• Negative effects on children and teens

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The link between cruelty to animals violence
against people

• Bottom line people who are cruel to animals all
  have one thing in common
• they are cruel to animals in order to hurt,
  control, or influence other people in some way.

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Recognition - evidence of the link

• Young people who are cruel to animals are 5 times
  more likely to be aggressive toward humans.
• Most violent offenders in prisons showed signs of
  aggression when they were young and often their
  first victims were animals.
• The FBI identifies animal cruelty as a juvenile
  behavior associated with increasingly violent
  behavior.
• The American Psychiatric Association identifies
  animal cruelty as one of the diagnostic criteria
  of conduct disorder.

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Recognition - evidence of the link

• Animal cruelty, whether its committed by an
  adult or child in the home, often means that
  child abuse is occurring in that family.
• In a survey of 57 pet-owning families who were
  clients of New Jerseys Division of Youth
  Family Services for child abuse, animal abuse
  occurred in 88 of the families.
• In two-thirds of these cases, the abusive parent
  had injured or killed a pet in the remaining
  cases, children were the animal abusers.

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Recognition - evidence of the link

• The step from ignoring the cries of a beaten
  animal to child abuse is a small one. (Loar)

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Recognition - evidence of the link

• In a recent sample of some of the largest
  domestic violence shelters in the US, the Humane
  Society of the US found that 91 of adult victims
  and 73 of children talk about incidents of pet
  abuse when they enter the shelter
• But only 18 of the shelters surveyed report
  that they routinely ask about pets when people
  come to them for help.

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Recognition why does animal cruelty matter?

• Why should people care about the suffering of
  animals when so many people are suffering?

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Recognition why does animal cruelty matter?

• Answer Because animals have their own inherent
  value, people and animals are linked, and if
  animal cruelty is recognized early and taken
  seriously, future violence against both animals
  and people can be avoided.

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Recognition why does animal cruelty matter?

• Animal cruelty is serious in itself
• It is a crime in all 50 states
• and a felony, under certain circumstances, in
  more than 40.
• As weve noted, animal cruelty is indicative of
  other problematic family dynamics.

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Recognition why does animal cruelty matter?

• Case exampleThis time, when her husband came
  home upset, he didnt beat her. Instead, he
  picked up their little boys pet cat, said Im
  sick and tired of this cat, walked outside,
  slammed the cat into the ground, stomped on her,
  and kicked her around until she landed 25 feet
  away. The little 5 and 6 year old boys followed
  their mother outside as she tried to prevent
  their father from killing the cat. They saw the
  whole thing. Before the man left the property,
  he turned to the older boy and said, Just
  remember this Ill kill anything that goes
  against me. After his father left, the little
  boy picked up his cat, and as he was holding her,
  his pet had a seizure and died in the childs
  arms.
• From Animal Sheltering magazine

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Recognition why does animal cruelty matter?

• Animals are part of the family in over half of
  American households.
• If youre working with a family, chances are the
  family has an animal in it

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The link between people animals toward
assessment intervention

• and the way the animal is treated can tell you A
  LOT about the family, as evidenced in the case
  example.
• Sometimes animal cruelty is the first sign of
  trouble in a family because it is out in the open
  in many cases.

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Assessment

• Sometimes clients will discuss animal cruelty in
  their lives before theyll discuss the violence
  that they or other people in their lives are
  experiencing.
• If animal cruelty is taken seriously and probed,
  the other violence in a persons life, as well as
  future violence, can be avoided.
• Asking a question or two about pets in the family
  can reveal a lot

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Assessment

• For instance
• Families in trouble usually have pets that
  frequently change and are young.
• More stable families have pets that have been in
  the family a while.
• Children who are your clients may mention things
  like, Mom doesnt feed the dog when shes mad at
  him or Dad kicks the dog when he comes home
  from work.

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Assessment

• Children may also say things like, Ive had lots
  of pets, but they usually go away and I dont
  know what happened to them.
• Adult victims of domestic abuse may say things
  like, My husband hit my cat and told me he would
  do that to me.

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Assessment

• Older adults may say, My daughter refuses to
  feed my dog when I dont do what she says.

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Assessment special focus on animal elder abuse

• Animals are often important companions to elderly
  people.
• In many cases of elder abuse, abusers use this
  bond to threaten, intimidate, and/or coerce
  victims.
• Cases of animal neglect by an elderly person may
  be the first sign that the elder is having
  trouble caring for herself or is being neglected
  herself.

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Assessment

• Assessment tools should include questions like
• Do you have any pets? or Tell me about
  your pets.
• If you hear responses similar to the ones we just
  discussed or any that make you suspicious, probe-
• Are your pets safe now?
• Has anyone in your home ever hit, kicked,
  punched, beaten, or thrown an animal or
  threatened to do this?

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Assessment

• If you suspect that your client may be the
  perpetrator of cruelty to an animal, ask
  questions that probe
• If the animals care needs are high (puppy or
  special needs animal)
• and caregiver resources/skills are low
• Attitudes about the animal, e.g., its just an
  animal
• Attempts to justify negative behavior toward the
  animal
• Persons own experience of abuse
• Use of strict, inappropriate rules and
  discipline inflexibility
• Alcohol/Drug use

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Assessment

• If you conduct home visits, ask clients if they
  have pets ask to see them.
• Sometimes, pets are not kept in plain view they
  may be in basements, garages, backyards

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Intervention reporting the cruelty

• If you suspect that pets are not safe in a
  clients home, please report your suspicions!
• Report if you
• See or hear about an animal who lacks adequate
  food, water, shelter
• See or hear about a child that has caused an
  animal pain or suffering
• See or hear about an animal who looks thin,
  matted, has hair loss is dirty
• See or hear about an animal who is living in
  filthy conditions

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Intervention reporting the cruelty

• See or hear about an animal who is chained and
  cant reach food, water, or shelter
• See or hear about an animal who is scarred from
  apparent bite wounds or has unexplained injuries
• See or hear about an animal who is exceptionally
  frightened, shy, or cowers
• See or hear about an animal who appears sick or
  injured.

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Intervention reporting the cruelty

• Also - if you are in a home assessing human
  violence and you discover pets in the home,
  please notify us
• Please call 314-647-4400 or report online,
  www.hsmo.org.

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Intervention reporting the cruelty

• Our humane officers have been trained to look for
  violence against humans when they respond to
  reports about animals and they report
  accordingly.

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Intervention a safe haven for pets

• Many victims of domestic violence indicate that
  they delayed leaving the home due to concern
  about their pets or uncertainty about where pets
  could go
• Model partnership Domestic Violence Pet
  Assistance Program at the Animal Protective
  Association of Missouri
• HSM/Childrens Services ride-along training

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Intervention programs that involve animals

• If a child has been cruel to an animal, social
  workers may refer to animal-related programs and
  therapies.
• Local Examples
• Humane Society of MOs Alternative Sentencing
  Program
• Humane Society of MOs Foster Family Programs

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Prevention

• Education, education, education!!
• Web of Cruelty program
• Power of Compassion program police officers
  and emergency responders
• Advocacy

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Prevention

• All social workers who work extensively with
  families can educate them about the link between
  animal cruelty and violence toward humans
• and can encourage people to have a plan in place
  for their pet if the pet has been threatened or
  hurt.

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Conclusions

• Animal cruelty hurts all of us.

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Conclusions

• If we increase our awareness about it and take it
  seriously

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We can protect both animals and people from
future violence!
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Primary Sources

• HSUS 2003 Report of Animal Cruelty Cases
• Frank R. Ascione Phil Arkow, Child Abuse,
  Domestic Violence, Animal Abuse, 1999.
• Lynn Loar, Ph.D., LCSW Libby Colman, Ph.D.,
  Teaching Empathy Animal-Assisted Therapy
  Programs for Children Families Exposed to
  Violence, 2004.
• The Latham Letter
• ASPCA