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The Link Between Animal Abuse and Human Violence

Edited by Andrew Linzey
The Revd Professor Andrew Linzey is Director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, and a member of the Faculty of Theology in the University of Oxford. He has written more than 100 articles and authored or edited 20 books on theology and ethics, including seminal works on animals: Animal Theology (1994). In 2001, he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree by the Archbishop of Canterbury in recognition of his 'unique pioneering work in the area of the theology of creation with particular reference to the rights and welfare of God's sentient creatures'.

“I think at some point in our career, we as vets have come across at least one case where we’ve suspected that an animal has been subject to neglect and/or abuse. Often it could be that we think the case is not ‘severe’ enough to report or there are other (human) factors which play a part in our decision making whether to report or not.
… If we – on top of considering the obvious unreasonable suffering of the animal – knew, that signs of animal abuse could be an indicator of much deeper problems in the home of the caretaker, would our decision be different?
… This book provides critical overviews of existing research and examines the latest evidence. It addresses the underlying ethical issues and considers the implications for legal policy and the work of key professionals (including veterinary surgeons). It comprises work by international experts from seven countries and features research by up-and-coming scholars as well as accomplished researchers. It also looks into the link between animal abuse and abuse/neglect of the elderly and has a chapter regarding the abuse of wildlife.
… The introduction asks Does Animal Abuse Really Benefit us? Later in the book we get some answers to why animal abuse can ‘benefit’ humans as a vent for anger, depression and frustration when a human is caught in an abusive relationship as a child, adolescent or adult. But it also suggests that in a home environment, where abuse and violence might be happening frequently, children growing up in such homes fail to learn to respect animals and later on in life could also develop this attitude into having low respect for fellow humans. Adults who have been subject to physical, sexual and mental abuse in childhood (whether there was animal abuse in the home or not) are more likely to develop the same patterns in adulthood. This might not come as such as surprise, but in this book we actually get some explanations to why this happens.
… The book is divided into 8 parts – each having a short introduction with chapters written by various authors to illustrate research and other investigation into the subject.
As vets, we need to know as much as we can about our patients and learn to recognise any signs of abuse and/or neglect early on. But we must also appreciate the human implications of animal neglect and abuse in order to help the animal presented to us in the most effective and ‘holistic’ way. In homeopathy we aim to treat the individual rather than the symptom. If we knowingly treat an animal without looking into its past and more importantly into its present situation, then we’re treating the ‘symptoms’ shown on the surface without addressing the real problem. If we can help individual family members (especially children) in a joint venture with other healthcare professionals and authorities, then we’re helping in a truly ‘holistic way’.
… With references to statistics and calculations, parts of this book could be a challenge to some readers. However, chapters can be easily understood without them and the book offers a great deal of helpful information for professionals in understanding the dynamics of a violent home environment and why people do what they do.
Read it and be all the wiser!” Book review by Malene Jørgensen, CandMedVet, VetMFHom, MRCVS, appeared in BAHVS (British Association of Homeopathic Veterinary Surgeons)

Excerpts from a review essay titled ‘The Elephant in the Room: Three New Books on Animal Ethics and Animal Theology’ by Scott Cowdell, who reviewed The Link Between Animal Abuse and Human Violence, and two other books by Andrew Linzey, Creatures of the Same God: Explorations in Animal Theology (Lantern Books, New York); and Why Animal Suffering Matters: Philosophy, Theology, and Practical Ethics (Oxford University Press)

“Andrew Linzey is the world’s first ‘animal theologian’ … He charts his own vocational commitment to animal welfare and the reform of Western theological imagination – as a conscientiously vegetarian theological student, then through decades of writing and activism as an academic clergyman, most recently as founder of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics.

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The association between human and animal suffering underpins the last of these books (The Link Between Animal Abuse and Human Violence), comprising proceedings of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics’ first international conference, held at Keble College in 2007. Philosophers, ethicists, legal scholars, law enforcement officers, scientists and theologians all contribute. Many abusers of women, children and the elderly, also most serial killers and violent serial rapists, typically demonstrate a history of animal abuse, with the worst offenders beginning with childhood abuse of animals. Abused children witnessing animal abuse often grow up to emulate it. Animal abuse also accompanies human abuse, when pets are hurt or killed to terrorize and punish children, or threatened to extort money from vulnerable elders. I was saddened to learn that many women delay escaping an abusive partner for the safety of a shelter for fear of leaving a threatened pet behind.
Statistics are amassed, with case studies from law enforcement’s chamber of horrors, leaving little doubt that there is a common pathology at work. The book canvasses options for legal reform, mandatory reporting of animal abuse by veterinarians, and law enforcement more intentionally pursuing animal abusers because it is likely in so doing to uncover and prevent human violence. A number of contributors, Linzey included, consider the pathology of violence towards wild animals, including the desensitization to suffering typically fostered among aficionados of English fox hunting and American deer hunting. They discuss the infamous dolphin drive hunts of Japan, with highly sentient creatures hounded, terrorised, gaffed and speared in a bloody maelstrom, all for the traditional right to eat cetacean meat (though it is increasingly unpopular, being mercury-laden), and English hunt advocates scorning reports of foxes (also unlucky domestic dogs and cats) torn apart by dog packs in the countryside – even in people’s yards, in front of children.

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As for nature’s cruelty, maybe God creating by evolutionary means allows animal pain, yet God feels every bit of it personally and redeems it through the suffering of Christ, with God’s new creation revealing the healing and restoration of every traumatised creature. But even if nature’s created ‘goodness’ accommodates the natural suffering of animals, Linzey’s insistence on minimising animal suffering and death is hard to discount, as is his ‘eschatological vegetarianism’. Here is a challenge at once theological, political and personal.” Associate Professor Scott Cowdell is a Research Fellow in Public and Contextual Theology at Charles Sturt University, and Canon Theologian of Canberra-Goulburn Diocese. He is a Founding Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics

“Scholars of psychology, philosophy, social sciences, law, and other fields look at the existing research; emotional development and emotional abuse; children, family violence, and animals; animal abuse and serial murder; ethical perspectives on relations between humans and animals; law enforcement, offenders, and sentencing policy; prevention and professional obligations; and the abuse of wild animals. Specific topics include a lifespan perspective on human aggression and animal abuse, empathy as an indicator of emotional development, the role of animals in public child welfare work, developmental animal cruelty and its correlates in sexual homicide offenders and sex offenders, the structure of evil, laws and policy to address the link of family violence, the role of veterinarians and other animal welfare workers in reporting suspected child abuse, and hunting as a morally suspect activity.” Reference & Research Book News

A review of the book also appears in Humane Education

http://humane-education.org.za/view/blog/childhood-development-impaired-by-animal-abuse/

Many philosophers, including Aquinas, Locke, Schopenhauer and Kant, have assumed that there is a link between cruelty to animals and violence to people. During the last 40 years, evidence for this view has steadily accumulated as a result of statistical, psychological, and medical investigations, and there is now a substantial body of supporting empirical evidence.
… The Link Between Animal Abuse and Human Violence brings together international experts from seven countries to examine in detail the relationships between animal abuse and child abuse, the emotional development of the child, family violence, and serial murder. It considers the implications for legal and social policy, and the work of key professionals. Sections include critical overviews of existing research, discussion of ethical issues, and a special focus on the abuse of wild animals.
… This book is essential reading for all those who have a stake in the debate, either because their academic work relates to the issues involved, or because their professional role involves contact with the abused or the abusers, both human and animal, including child care officers, community carers, law enforcement officers, health visitors, veterinarians, anti-cruelty inspectors, animal protection officers, social scientists, lawyers, psychologists, and criminologists. The Link Between Animal Abuse and Human Violence is the most up to date, authoritative, and comprehensive volume on the link between animal abuse and human violence.

About the Editor and Contributors Introduction Does Animal Abuse Really Benefit Us? Andrew Linzey Part I Overviews of Existing Research Introduction by Andrew Linzey 1 Measuring Animal Cruelty and Case Histories Marie Louise Petersen and David P. Farrington 2 Types of Cruelty: Animals and Childhood Cruelty, Domestic Violence, Child and Elder Abuse Marie Louise Petersen and David P. Farrington 3 A Lifespan Perspective on Human Aggression and Animal Abuse Eleonora Gullone Part II Emotional Development and Emotional Abuse Introduction by Andrew Linzey 4 Empathy as an Indicator of Emotional Development Andrea M. Beetz 5 Emotional Abuse of Children and Animals Franklin D. McMillan Part III Children, Family Violence, and Animals Introduction by Andrew Linzey 6 Cruelty, Children, and Animals: Historically One, Not Two, Causes Sabrina Tonutt 7 Examining Children’s Exposure to Violence in the Context of Animal Abuse Frank R. Ascione 8 Women-Battering, Pet Abuse, and Human–Animal Relationships Clifton P. Flynn 9 The Role of Animals in Public Child Welfare Work Christina Risley-Curtiss Part IV Animal Abuse and Serial Murder Introduction by Andrew Linzey 10 Developmental Animal Cruelty and its Correlates in Sexual Homicide Offenders and Sex Offenders Llian Alys, J. Clare Wilson, John Clarke and Peter Toman 11 Reducing the Link’s False Positive Problem Jack Levin and Arnold Arluke Part V Ethical Perspectives on Human–Animal Relations Introduction by Andrew Linzey 12 Is Human Rights Speciesist? Conor Gearty 13 Responding Ethically to Animal Abuse Mark H. Bernstein 14 The New Canaries in the Mine: The Priority of Human Welfare in Animal Abuse Prosecution Elizabeth Clawson 15 The Structure of Evil Mark Rowlands 16 ‘Vile attentions’: On the Limits of Sympathetic Imagination Daniel B. Williams Part VI Law Enforcement, Offenders, and Sentencing Policy Introduction by Andrew Linzey 17 An FBI Perspective on Animal Cruelty Alan C. Brantley interviewed by Randall Lockwood and Ann W. Church 18 Laws and Policy to Address the Link of Family Violence Joan E. Schaffner 19 Dealing with Animal Offenders Angus Nurse 20 Implications for Criminal Law, Sentencing Policy and Practice Martin Wasik Part VII Prevention and Professional Obligations Introduction by Andrew Linzey 21 A Legal Duty to Report Suspected Animal Abuse – Are Veterinarians Ready? Ian Robertson 22 The Role of Veterinarians and Other Animal Welfare Workers in the Reporting of Suspected Child Abuse Corey C. Montoya and Catherine A. Miller 23 Animal Cruelty and Child Welfare – The Health Visitor’s Perspective Dawn Hawksworth and Rachel Balen Part VIII The Abuse of Wild Animals Introduction by Andrew Linzey 24 Overview of Research Nicola Taylor and Tania Signal 25 Hunting as an Abusive Sub-culture John Cooper 26 Hunting as a Morally Suspect Activity Priscilla N. Cohn and Andrew Linzey 27 Dolphin Drive Hunts and the Socratic Dictum: ‘Vice harms the doer’ Thomas I. White Index

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