|
|
 |
Facts
Human/Animal Abuse Connection
- A recent Newsweek article titled "Why the Young Kill," reports juvenile homicide is twice as common today as it was in the mid-1980s. Bad parenting, media and societal violence, and America's gun culture are the chief culprits.
- People who abuse animals rarely stop there. As reported by Psychologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, animals are abused in 88 percent of families in which children are abused.
- Tragically, the link between animal abuse and human violence is well established. Serial killers Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, "Son of Sam" David Berkowitz, the "Boston Strangler" Albert DeSalvo, and other notorious criminals began their murderous careers by abusing animals.
- Childhood animal abuse has become an accurate predictor of future violence against humans. Consider this: It has been confirmed that the young men responsible for the recent epidemic of high-profile school shootings � Mississippi's Luke Woodham, 16; Kentucky's Michael Carneal, 14; Arkansas' Mitchell Johnson, 13 and Andrew Golden, 11; Oregon's Kip Kinkel, 15; and Colorado's Eric Harris, 18 and Dylan Klebold, 17 -- all abused animals before turning their guns on fellow students.
- As further reported in "The Violence Connection," a 1985 study of aggressive and nonaggressive criminals incarcerated at federal penitentiaries found that 25 percent of non-aggressive criminals reported at least five incidents of childhood cruelty to animals, while less than 6 percent of nonaggressive criminals did so. None of the noncriminals interviewed for the study reported any acts of childhood cruelty to animals
- In a 1970's study conducted by the FBI of 36 convicted multiple murderers, 46% admitted to acts of animal torture as adolescents. Recognition of the link between cruelty toward animal and more general violence is now incorporated into FBI routine procedures.
- A 1994 report from the FBI stated that cruelty to animals is one of the traits that regularly appears in its computer records of serial rapists and killers: "The future killer's childhood concentration on violence will lead to an adulthood violence focus."
- A 1995 paper presented at the Fourth International Conference on Family Violence held in Durham, New Hampshire, reported that 71% of women seeking shelter in northern Utah reported that their male abusers had threatened, harmed, or killed their pets. Further, of the women with children, 32% reported that one of their children had also committed acts of animal cruelty.
- An analysis of animal cruelty cases in Massachusetts from 1975 to 1996 revealed that 70% of the animal abusers in the study also had criminal records, and of these, 40% had been convicted of violent crimes.
- The FBI's Supervising Special Agent Allan Brantley of the Bureau's Investigative Support Unit explained, speaking before a 1998 congressional hearing, "Taking animal cruelty seriously offers an opportunity to intervene in violent households and with violent individuals." He continued, "Violence against animals is synonymous with a history of violence. In many cases we have examples whereby violence against animals is a prelude to violence against humans. You can look at cruelty to animals and cruelty to humans as a continuum."
Neutering/Spaying
- However, a study of pet overpopulation in Santa Ana commissioned by Humane America and conducted by Davis Market Research in December 2000 revealed that 21% of dogs were obtained from pet stores.
- It is estimated that every hour in the United States, more than 2,000 dogs and 3,500 cats are born, compared to 415 humans. As a result, 17,000,000 dogs and 30,000,000 cats are born each year. Unfortunately, every year over 20,000,000 pets end up in a shelter. Of these, over 15,000,000 are euthanized.
- Cats can begin breeding when they are between four and twelve months old, producing an average of 4 to 6 kittens per litter, as many as three times per year. In seven years there exists the possibility that this same cat and her subsequent offspring can produce a staggering 420,000 cats and kittens!
- Dogs can begin breeding as early as five months old and as late as eighteen months old. An average canine litter produces 6 to 10 puppies as much as twice per year, with the possibility of that same dog and her offspring producing a total of as many as 67,000 dogs in 6 years.
Additional Resources
References
|
|
|
|
