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HelpingAnimals.com
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Violent
acts toward animals have long been recognized as indicators of
a dangerous psychopathy that does not confine itself to animals.
"Anyone who has accustomed himself to regard the life of
any living creature as worthless is in danger of arriving also
at the idea of worthless human lives," wrote humanitarian
Dr. Albert Schweitzer. "Murderers ... very often start out
by killing and torturing animals as kids," according to Robert
K. Ressler, who developed profiles of serial killers for the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Studies have now convinced sociologists,
lawmakers, and the courts that acts of cruelty toward animals
deserve our attention. They can be the first sign of a violent
pathology that includes human victims.
A
Long Road of Violence
Animal
abuse is not just the result of a minor personality flaw in the
abuser, but a symptom of a deep mental disturbance. Research in
psychology and criminology shows that people who commit acts of
cruelty against animals don’t stop there; many of them move
on to their fellow humans.
The
FBI has found that a history of cruelty to animals is one of the
traits that regularly appear in its computer records of serial
rapists and murderers, and the standard diagnostic and treatment
manual for psychiatric and emotional disorders lists cruelty to
animals as a diagnostic criterion for conduct disorders. (1)
Studies
have shown that violent and aggressive criminals are more likely
to have abused animals as children than criminals considered non-aggressive.
(2) A survey of psychiatric patients who had repeatedly tortured
dogs and cats found that all of them had high levels of aggression
toward people as well, including one patient who had murdered
a boy. (3) To researchers, a fascination with cruelty to animals
is a red flag in the lives of serial rapists and killers. (4)
Says
Robert Ressler, founder of the FBI’s behavioral sciences
unit, "These are the kids who never learned it’s wrong
to poke out a puppy’s eyes." (5)
Notorious
Killers
History
is replete with notorious examples: Patrick Sherrill, who killed
14 coworkers at a post office and then shot himself, had a history
of stealing local pets and allowing his own dog to attack and
mutilate them.(6) Earl Kenneth Shriner, who raped, stabbed, and
mutilated a 7-year-old boy, had been widely known in his neighborhood
as the man who put firecrackers in dogs’ rectums and strung
up cats.(7) Brenda Spencer, who opened fire at a San Diego school,
killing two children and injuring nine others, had repeatedly
abused cats and dogs, often by setting their tails on fire.(8)
Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler" who killed 13
women, trapped dogs and cats in orange crates and shot arrows
through the boxes in his youth.(9) Carroll Edward Cole, executed
for five of the 35 murders of which he was accused, said his first
act of violence as a child was to strangle a puppy.(10) In 1987,
three Missouri high school students were charged with the beating
death of a classmate. They had histories of repeated acts of animal
mutilation starting several years earlier. One confessed that
he had killed so many cats he’d lost count. (11) Two brothers
who murdered their parents had previously told classmates that
they had decapitated a cat.(12) Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer had
impaled dogs’ heads, frogs, and cats on sticks.(13)
More
recently, high school killers such as 15-year-old Kip Kinkel in
Springfield, Ore., and Luke Woodham, 16, in Pearl, Miss., tortured
animals before embarking on shooting sprees.(14) Columbine High
School students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who shot and killed
12 classmates before turning their guns on themselves, bragged
about mutilating animals to their friends.(15)
"There
is a common theme to all of the shootings of recent years,"
says Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz, director of the Child Study Center
at New York University. "You have a child who has symptoms
of aggression toward his peers, an interest in fire, cruelty to
animals, social isolation, and many warning signs that the school
has ignored."(16)
Sadly,
many of these criminals’ childhood violence went unexamined—until
it was directed toward humans. As anthropologist Margaret Mead
noted, "One of the most dangerous things that can happen
to a child is to kill or torture an animal and get away with it."(17)
Animal
Cruelty and Family Violence
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. Some abusive adults who know better
than to abuse a child in public have no such qualms about abusing
an animal publicly.
In
88 percent of 57 New Jersey families being treated for child abuse,
animals in the home had been abused.(18) Of 23 British families
with a history of animal neglect, 83 percent had been identified
by experts as having children at risk of abuse or neglect.(19)
In one study of battered women, 57 percent of those with pets
said their partners had harmed or killed the animals. One in four
said that she stayed with the batterer because she feared leaving
the pet behind.(20)
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.(21)
Stopping
the Cycle of Abuse
There
is "a consensus of belief among psychologists ... that cruelty
to animals is one of the best examples of the continuity of psychological
disturbances from childhood to adulthood. In short, a case for
the prognostic value of childhood animal cruelty has been well
documented," according to the Cornell University College
of Veterinary Medicine.(22)
Schools,
parents, communities, and courts who shrug off animal abuse as
a "minor" crime are ignoring a time bomb. Instead, communities
should be aggressively penalizing animal abusers, examining families
for other signs of violence, and requiring intensive counseling
for perpetrators. Communities must recognize that abuse to ANY
living individual is unacceptable and endangers everyone.
In
1993, California became the first state to pass a law requiring
animal control officers to report child abuse. Voluntary abuse-reporting
measures are also on the books in Ohio, Connecticut, and Washington,
D.C. Similar legislation has been introduced in Florida. "Pet
abuse is a warning sign of abuse to the two-legged members of
the family," says the bill’s sponsor, Representative
Steve Effman. "We can’t afford to ignore the connection
any longer."(23)
Additionally,
children should be taught to care for and respect animals in their
own right. After extensive study of the links between animal abuse
and human abuse, two experts concluded, "The evolution of
a more gentle and benign relationship in human society might,
thus, be enhanced by our promotion of a more positive and nurturing
ethic between children and animals."(24)
What
You Can Do:
Urge
your local school and judicial systems to take cruelty to animals
seriously. Laws must send a strong message that violence against
any feeling creature—human or other-than-human—is unacceptable.
Be
aware of signs of neglect or abuse in children and animals. Take
children seriously if they report animals’ being neglected
or mistreated. Some children won’t talk about their own suffering
but will talk about an animal’s.
Don’t
ignore even minor acts of cruelty to animals by children. Talk
to the child and the child’s parents. If necessary, call
a social worker.
References
1.
Daniel Goleman, "Child’s Love of Cruelty May Hint at
the Future Killer," The New York Times, 7 Aug. 1991.
2. "Animal Abuse Forecast of Violence," New Orleans
Times-Picayune, 1 Jan. 1987.
3. Alan R. Felthous, "Aggression Against Cats, Dogs, and
People," Child Psychiatry and Human
Development, 10 (1980), 169-177.
4. Goleman.
5. Robert Ressler, quoted in "Animal Cruelty May Be a Warning,"
Washington Times, 23 June 1998.
6. International Association of Chiefs of Police, The Training
Key, No. 392, 1989.
7. The Animals’ Voice, Fall 1990.
8. The Humane Society News, Summer 1986.
9. International Association of Chiefs of Police.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Lorraine Adams, "Too Close for Comfort," The Washington
Post, 4 Apr. 1995.
13. Goleman.
14. Deborah Sharp, "Animal Abuse Will Often Cross Species
Lines," USA Today, 28 Apr. 2000.
15. Mitchell Zuckoff, "Loners Drew Little Notice," Boston
Globe, 22 Apr. 1999.
16. Ethan Bronner, "Experts Urge Swift Action to Fight Depression
and Aggression," The New York Times, p. A21.
17. Margaret Mead, Ph.D, "Cultural Factors in the Cause and
Prevention of Pathological Homicide," Bulletin in the Menninger
Clinic, No. 28 (1964),
pp. 11-22.
18. Elizabeth DeViney, Jeffrey Dickert, and Randall Lockwood,
"The Care of Pets Within Child-Abusing Families," International
Journal for the Study of
Animal Problems, 4 (1983) 321-329.
19. "Child Abuse and Cruelty to Animals," Washington
Humane Society.
20. Sharp.
21. Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal
Health Newsletter, Nov. 1994.
22. Ibid.
23. Sharp.
24. Stephen R. Kellert, Ph.D., and Alan R. Felthous, M.D., "Childhood
Cruelty Toward Animals Among Criminals and Noncriminals,"
Archives of General Psychiatry, Nov. 1983.
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