The Connection Between Violence Against Humans and Violence Against Animals

WRITTEN BY: KELSEY GILMORE FUTERAL, JD

The articles published in Lowcountry Dog are usually family-friendly reading, so I wanted to give readers a warning that the following article mentions sex and abuse of both people and animals. This is an important topic and must be addressed by our community, but please exercise your discretion whether to share it with the youngest members of your family.

In early May, I learned of a tragic case in Spartanburg in which police responded to a report of domestic violence and arrived on scene to find a woman crying outside her home. According to Spartanburg law enforcement, a man who had been heavily drinking shot the victim’s dog to death as the dog hid under a bed. When the victim attempted to flee with her child, the man grabbed her by the hair and refused to allow her to leave. The man is now facing charges of second-degree domestic violence, discharging a firearm into a dwelling and ill-treatment of animals. In a separate case in May, an Aiken woman and her husband were charged with bestiality (or buggery as state law calls it) after a child pornography investigation uncovered sex acts with horses.

As these cases demonstrate, there exists a significant correlation between violence against people and violence against animals. Numerous studies substantiate this relationship, including a 2018 study which found a significantly higher likelihood that a person would harm their partner (including strangulation and rape) if they had a history of animal abuse. The authors concluded that “both humans and animals residing in homes with a [domestic violence] suspect who has a history of pet abuse should be considered at extreme risk of suffering severely damaging physical and emotional harm or death.”

Domestic violence offenders often leverage the pets in the home to keep the victim from leaving, thereby holding the victim hostage. Abusers may threaten to harm the pet, abuse the pet to punish the victim or even kill the pet to exert control over the victim. Surveys of domestic violence victims show that they often refuse to leave their abusers out of fear that their beloved pet will be harmed, or because the community lacks safe havens for both the human victim and their pet.

Studies also show that children who are exposed to or commit violence against animals have a higher risk of growing up to commit violent crimes against people. In one scientific article, published in the journal Human Relations in 1985, 25% of a population of men incarcerated for violent crimes reported committing “substantial cruelty to animals” as children. If agencies in a position to address those red flags had been involved in these men’s lives when they were children, might their pattern of violence have been interrupted? Children who live in homes where they are exposed to animal cruelty also demonstrate an increased tendency to abuse animals, other children or people later in life.

Domestic violence offenders often leverage the pets in the home to keep the victim from leaving. Photo by Pexels

Some of the most notorious killers admitted to harming or killing animals before they progressed to killing people. These include Columbine High School shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, Parkland High School shooter Nikolas Cruz, Albert DeSalvo (the Boston Strangler), Dennis Rader (the “BTK” serial killer in Kansas) and Jeffrey Dahmer. Because of the connection between animal and human abuse, the National Sheriffs’ Association formed an animal cruelty committee and the FBI’s criminal database now tracks acts of animal abuse alongside other felony crimes like arson, assault and homicide. The Humane Society of the United States is proud to partner with the National Sheriffs’ Association to raise awareness about these issues and to support those on the front lines through our Law Enforcement Training Center. We have had the privilege of training thousands of officers over the years, including throughout South Carolina in partnership with various law enforcement agencies. During these day-long training sessions, we emphasize this connection and the need to recognize the serious and sometimes lethal consequences animal abuse has on other vulnerable beings living in the home. For this reason, the Animal Law Committee of the South Carolina Bar successfully petitioned the family court administration to include pets in the form order that grants people protection from alleged abusers. Now, with a simple check of a box, family court judges can order offenders not to harm or threaten to harm the family pet upon penalty of incarceration. While magistrates may also include pets in orders of protection, their court administration has not yet updated the form order to automatically include them for consideration.

Responding to domestic violence and animal abuse requires a community approach. In the HSUS’s law enforcement training, animal crime experts emphasize to the officers the need to connect the victim with appropriate services to address food security, housing needs, childcare assistance and a safe space for their pet.

The Animal Welfare Institute’s Safe Havens program and RedRover’s Safe Place for Pets provide lifesaving resources to help families with pets safely escape domestic violence together. Local shelters in the Lowcountry, including Pet Helpers and the Charleston Animal Society, work directly with social workers and domestic violence shelters to provide safe havens for animals, giving victims the assurance and comfort of knowing that they will be reunited with their beloved pet in the future.

As a community, it is imperative that we recognize the incredibly important link between animal abuse and interpersonal violence. In the Lowcountry, we need to cross-train social workers, law enforcement officers and animal control officers to recognize the signs of domestic violence, child abuse and animal cruelty in every situation they encounter. A social worker or police officer who can read the body language of a cowering animal who has been beaten by an offender will have a fuller picture of the situation when speaking with a victim who may fear disclosing the abuse they suffer. More importantly, we must take a multidisciplinary approach between law enforcement, animal control, animal shelters, child protective services, domestic violence shelters and school systems to ensure communication and collaboration to protect victims from domestic violence. When we inform and utilize the network of resources already in our community, we will make the Lowcountry a safer place for people and pets and will be one step closer to making ours a more humane society. ■

Kelsey Gilmore-Futeral is the South Carolina director for the Humane Society of the United States.

Most domestic violence shelters can’t accept pets because of health regulations, space limitations, additional costs, and potential liabilities. However, animal shelters, animal care and control agencies, veterinary clinics, and private boarding kennels have begun partnering with domestic violence shelters to provide temporary housing for victims’ pets. Pet Helpers Animal Safe Haven Program offers a life-saving alternative for family violence victims and their companion animals.

Maintaining confidentiality is essential when working with family violence victims. If information about victims or their pets is shared with many people, the safety of all parties is jeopardized. Only the caseworker who made the referral, our Foster Manager, Intake Manager, Shelter Manager and the Executive Director have access to records about victims and their pets. All paperwork and case files are kept in a securely locked filing cabinet. Any computer files on the people or animals in the program are passwordprotected. To help ensure safety, victims and foster caregivers are not given each other’s names or contact information.

For further information of Pet Helpers Animal Safe Haven Program contact 843-531-6164, msusko@pethelpers.org or fostercare@pethelpers.org.