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Animal Abuse: How Could They?


Emily Sims

Academic Writing

11/9/17

Animal Abuse: How Could They?

    According to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, another animal is abused every ten seconds. The ASPCA commercial comes on television, all of a sudden the screen is flooded with images of injured dogs left out in the rain or looking up from within their small crate with huge, sad puppy eyes. Most people change the channel because of the sadness that washes over them, from seeing innocent animals that have withstood horrible trauma, and ask themselves how anyone could possibly abuse an animal. Since the majority of people see the moral implications of harming pets, it takes learning and witnessing of abnormal behaviors for an individual to believe animal abuse is acceptable or even fun. Animal abuse is a result of upbringing during childhood, events throughout life and specific traits, which ultimately lead to an individual's increased likeliness of committing violent interpersonal offenses in the future.


Personality Theory

    In order to understand how an individual could harm an innocent creature, the differences in their mindset must be compared to a control or non animal abuser. Higher levels of criminal thinking are associated with animal abuse due to the blatant disregard for morally unacceptable behavior. Criminal thinking is defined as the “thought content and process conducive to the initiation and maintenance of habitual law- breaking behavior” (Schwartz et al 848). Therefore, those that are more inclined to think criminally also commit atrocities like animal abuse

       The Big Five personality test measures five categories that a person’s personality can score high or low in to determine how temperament affects one’s actions. One’s traits dictate their decisions and actions therefore personality plays a vital role in determining how their capable of animal abuse. According to the article Psychological Profile of Male and Female Animal Abusers, “Individuals high on psychopathic traits score higher on measures of callousness and narcissism, experience a lack of remorse, and engage in more frequent antisocial and impulsive behavior” (Schwartz et al 848). Therefore, high scores in narcissism, callousness, and neuroticism combined with low scores in agreeableness, consciousness and empathy contribute to the lack of emotion one would normally feel while causing others pain. By being overly callous and disagreeable, a person does not care about the implications of their actions onto others. If an individual lacks the traits to feel empathetic and has a higher level of criminal thinking, then they are more likely to commit animal abuse than the average citizen.


Male Animal Abuser Tendencies

      In order to gain the upper hand in a conflict situation, adult males may abuse their loved one’s pet. Therefore, men may commit animal abuse in order to manipulate their families, instead of hurting animals for their own pleasure. In fact, “92% [of  female domestic violence victims] believed that pets were abused to control them or their children” (Newberry 247). In situations of men committing domestic violence, they want complete control of their partner and will use any tactics necessary to coerce their families instead obeying their rules. Many victims of domestic violence are forced to stay with their partner due to joint ownership of a pet. Since few shelters for battered women allow animals, the victims are either forced to give their pet up for adoption, which may result in their abusive partner finding a way to re-adopt it, or leave their beloved companion behind and risk them being subjected to torture. Male animal abusers can use the opportunity to threaten to or actually physically harm the animal, to guilt their partner into staying with them for the animal’s sake. Males that already commit interpersonal violence use animal abuse as a tactic to have control over their families.

             According to the article Bullies, Victims, and Animal Abusers: Do They Exhibit Similar Behavioral Difficulties, “males engage in bullying and animal abuse at rates approximately four times higher than females” (Sanders et al 226). Therefore, males are more inclined to participate in violent and aggressive behavior, against those perceived as weaker than them, than women are. Also, criminal thinking levels in males were above average if they were found to participate in crimes against people (Schwartz et al 848). Men have a stronger tendency to abuse animals both before and during committing interpersonal violence.


Animal Abuse Perpetrated by Women

     Women are also more likely to abuse a pet after seeing someone else harm an animal.

According to the Psychological Profile of Male and Female Animal Abusers, “For females, witnessing animal abuse perpetrated by another individual was the strongest predictor of participation in animal abuse” (Schwartz et al 849). After seeing others harm an animal, women perceived the behavior as more socially acceptable. From a social learning theory perspective, women are desensitized from violent behaviors after being accustomed to them and are more likely to mimic those harmful actions.

      Women that have higher levels of criminal thinking and bullying behaviors had a higher chance of participating in animal abuse. Schwartz and others found that women’s level of criminal thinking was significantly higher if they had previously committed violent crimes against people or property crimes. Compared to non-animal abusing females, women that had abused animals also “engaged in significantly more experiences with bullying behaviors” (Schwartz et al  855). Therefore, women that abuse animals are also guilty of terrorizing others to feel in control. Since female animal abusers have higher levels of criminal thinking and engage in bullying, they would score higher in callousness and narcissism on the big five personality test compared to non-animal abusing women.


Children’s Motivation to Abuse Animals

     There are many examples of serial killers and other violent criminals that abused animals when they were a child. Bullying, domestic violence and witnessing others abuse animals lead children to believe it is acceptable and even fun to harm innocent pets. Both female and male children that are victims of domestic violence have a likeness to harm animals. According to Schwartz, Fremouw, Schenk and Ragatz, “Children who experienced or witnessed domestic violence were found to be three times more likely to participate in animal abuse compared with participants who had not witnessed or experienced domestic violence” (849). Most children do not orchestrate animal abuse unless they have been desensitized to violent behaviors. When a child is subjected to bullying or domestic violence, they may internalize their feelings and project their pain onto others weaker than them such as their pets. Arkow and Ascione suggest, “The psychological mechanism of identification with the aggressor suggests that when a child is victimized, he or she may seek out a more vulnerable victim to victimize including younger children or pets powerlessness is frightening and demoralizing, and, unfortunately, exerting control over another can restore a sense of self-efficacy” (55). Domestic violence can teach children that picking on a small, weaker animal or even a peer is how to express their feelings of sadness, anger and frustration instead of talking about their emotions or channeling them into something positive.

       Most parents filter their words and actions around their children because children’s minds are very malleable and they often mimic what adults do. Therefore if a child sees someone else harm an animal, they are more likely to also hurt animals. According to the book Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, and Animal Abuse, “Social learning theory would suggest that violent homes may provide a training ground for animal abuse by exposing children to adult models of such behavior” (Arkow and Ascione 54). Even behaviors like an owner softly smacking their dog after an accident in the house can lead children to believe it is acceptable to harm their pet. Children may then increase the violence of the behavior causing their pet serious harm without feeling remorse or guilt.

     Television and other forms of media may lead children to believe harming their pets is acceptable.  George Gerbner helped proved this when he “reviewed the prevalence of animal abuse in televised media and emphasized the desensitizing role it may play in children’s development” (qtd in Arkow et al 58). Gerbner realized that many have been concerned about the impact of television violence on children but few have thought of its impact on animal abuse committed by children. Media can illustrate violent behaviors against animals which after too much exposure can lead children to mimic. Tom and Jerry is a cartoon meant for children to enjoy despite its depiction of animals violently torturing each other. While the show does not include humans harming the animals, a child may decide to reenact abusive scenes with their pet. They might start by pulling their cat's tail, then holding it underwater or setting it on fire; since it happens on a funny television show, a child will not realize how harmful their actions truly are. Exposure to violent actions against animals whether on television or witnessed in person teaches children that these vicious acts are normal, even accepted.  

       The article Bullies, Victims, and Animal Abusers: Do They Exhibit Similar Behavioral Difficulties states that, “Baldry found that boys and girls who reported participating in direct school bullying were twice as likely to have committed some form of animal abuse when compared to their non-bullying peers” (qtd in Sanders et al 225). Both victims of bullying and the bullies themselves are more likely to abuse animals in order to relieve frustrations. The Psychological Profile of Male and Female Animal Abusers suggests that “boys’ more frequent participation in bullying than girls, and… that boys may “[externalize] pain and suffering onto more vulnerable others”(Schwartz, Fremouw, Schenk & Ragatz 107). Therefore, when male children have issues with their peers they are likely to take their anger out on an innocent creature to feel more in control. By learning to bully animals and other children, kids will have an undeveloped sense of empathy for others and an overdeveloped sense of narcissism. These traits acquired from childhood trauma can lead to a different outlook on life compared to their peers which may cause them to care less about others and foster a mindset perfect for the making of an animal abuser and future criminal.


Where Animal Abuse Leads

      Animal cruelty is often the the first step people take towards committing heinous crimes against others. Animal abuse is clearly a predictor for violent crimes in in the future. As described in earlier paragraphs, domestic violence is one form of interpersonal violence that has a direct connection to animal abuse. Increasingly violent crimes have also been linked to animal cruelty. For instance, in 1836 Pierre Riviere, a young adult from France, viciously killed his expecting mother, teenage sister and little brother. During the trial, the court recovered a journal by Riviere which chronicled his practice of torturing animals. The court believed that had it not been for the murders, no one would have thought twice about the animal abuse (Beirne). Therefore, while no one was concerned about Riviere’s animal abuse at the time it occurred, it was a warning sign of extremely violent behavior against humans in the future. Then in 1991, a sixteen year old boy was put on trial for the murder of his mother and two of his fellow students. In the same instance, Luke Woodham also seriously injured seven students at his high school. Similar to the Riviere case, Woodham wrote a detailed journal entry on torturing and killing his dog, Sprinkle. A neighbor even witnessed Woodham torturing the dog but failed to report it to authorities. The teen described Sprinkle’s cries as sounding “almost human” (Arkow et al 50). Woodham’s account of Sprinkle’s death helps illustrate that animal abuse may be considered practice for wrongdoings against people. In fact, according to the Psychological Profile of Male and Female Animal Abusers, “Individuals who abused animals were 5.3 times more likely to have a violent criminal record than controls” (Schwartz et al 847). Based on previous criminal cases and collected evidence, animal abuse is strongly linked to brutal interpersonal crimes and should not be overlooked.

     In 2015, nearly ten percent of the convicted animal abusers received jail sentences about four months long (Brown). Based on the extremely violent behaviors of animal abusers, harsher legal repercussions for animal cruelty should be enforced. Many countries’ animal welfare laws have been perceived as incredibly lax, especially because of the connection to other violent crimes against people. In order to combat animal cruelty, the ASPCA is one of many organizations working tirelessly to improve the welfare of domesticated animals. Animal abusers destroy the lives of innocent animals due to their specific personality traits, circumstances during life and childhood trauma. Since animal abuse has been proven to be a learned behavior, responsible parents, educators and law enforcement should keep a close watch of warning signs and instances of violent behavior against animals and peers. By cracking down on animal abusers and enforcing harsher repercussions for harm and neglect, the lives of many animals will be saved and more violent crimes against people may be avoided.



Works Cited

Arkow, Phil and Ascione, Frank R. Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, and Animal Abuse.

[Electronic Resource] : Linking the Circles of Compassion for Prevention and Intervention. West Lafayette, Ind. : Purdue University Press, c1999., 1999. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.lynchburg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat00204a&AN=lybc.b1999879&site=eds-live&scope=site.


Beirne, Piers. Confronting Animal Abuse. [Electronic Resource] : Law, Criminology, and

Human-Animal Relationships. Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield, c2009., 2009. EBSCOhost,ezproxy.lynchburg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat00204a&AN=lybc.b1900914&site=eds-live&scope=site.


Brown, David. "Jail Animal Abusers for Five Years, Urges Charity." Times, the (United


Brown, David. "Jail Animal Abusers for Five Years, Urges Charity." Times, the (United


Newberry, Michelle. "Pets in Danger: Exploring the Link between Domestic Violence and

Animal Abuse." Aggression and Violent Behavior, vol. 34, 01 May 2017, pp. 273-281. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.avb.2016.11.007.


Sanders, Cheryl E. Henry, Bill C. Giuliani, Christine N. Dimmer, Lisa N. "Bullies, Victims, and

Animal Abusers: Do They Exhibit Similar Behavioral Difficulties?." Society & Animals, vol. 21, no. 3, June 2013, pp. 225-239. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1163/15685306-12341285.


Schwartz, Rebecca L.Fremouw, William. Schenk, Allison and Ragatz, Laurie L. "Psychological

Profile of Male and Female Animal Abusers." Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol. 27, no. 5, 01 Mar. 2012, pp. 846-861. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.lynchburg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ980193&site=eds-live&scope=site.

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