People Who Are Violent to Animals Rarely Stop There

Violent acts towards animals have long been recognised as indicators of a dangerous psychopathology 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 US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Studies have now convinced sociologists, lawmakers and the courts that acts of cruelty towards animals deserve our attention. They can be the first sign of a violent pathology that includes human victims.

Animal abuse is not just the result of a minor personality flaw in the abuser but rather a symptom of a deep mental disturbance. Research in psychology and criminology shows that people who commit acts of cruelty towards 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.

A study conducted by US Northeastern University and an American SPCA in Massachusetts found that people who abuse animals are five times more likely to commit violent crimes against humans. The majority of inmates scheduled to be executed for murder at California’s San Quentin penitentiary ‘practiced’ their crimes on animals, according to the warden.

Notorious Killers

• As a child, serial killer and rapist Ted Bundy—ultimately convicted of two killings but suspected of murdering more than 40 women—witnessed his father’s violence towards animals, and he himself subsequently tortured animals.

• Earl Kenneth Shriner, who raped and stabbed a 7-year-old boy, was known in his neighbourhood for hanging cats and torturing dogs.

• David Berkowitz (a.k.a. ‘Son of Sam’), who pleaded guilty to 13 murder and attempted murder charges, shot a neighbour’s Labrador retriever.

• Brenda Spencer, who opened fire at a California school, killing two children and injuring nine others, had repeatedly abused cats and dogs, often setting their tails on fire.

• Serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer impaled the heads of dogs and cats on sticks.

What You Can Do

• Write to the minister of environment and forests to encourage him to increase the currently meagre and ineffective penalties for animal cruelty. When the penalties are increased, the police, animal protection groups and citizens will have more power to stop the senseless abuse of animals that could lead to cruelty to humans:

The Honourable Shri T.R. Baalu
Union Cabinet Minister
Government of India
Ministry of Environment & Forests
Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex
Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110003

• Encourage your local police to take animal cruelty cases seriously. PETA has prepared an instructional video for police on the unlawful manner in which animals are transported and slaughtered to motivate them to take strong action against unlawful cruelty in these cases. Write to PETA for a copy to share with your local police: PETAIndia@petaindia.org.

• Urge your local school and state government to take cruelty to animals seriously. Laws must send a strong message that violence against any feeling creature—human or non-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.