In cases of domestic violence, police arrests are more common when pets are also abused

Almost two-thirds of US households have not less than a petand just about all see their pet as Family member.

Unfortunately, in households where violence occurs, pets may also grow to be victims of those injuries. Research studies consistently support the link between animal cruelty and interpersonal violence.

The domestic violence link defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as abuse or aggression by a current or former spouse or partnerexpands on this context. Animal cruelty shouldn’t be only a recognized factor that predicts the injury of a life partner, but it will probably even be used to perpetrate this violence.

Animal cruelty is used as a weapon when a partner threatens to harm or actually harms a pet as a way to control their partner. This tactic is effective. Victims of domestic violence commonly cite fear for his or her pet's safety as the first reason they don’t leave an abusive situation.

Advocacy groups have used evidence of the link to domestic violence to suggest Policy changes to guard people and their pets who’re in danger from an intimate partner. Based on these efforts, 40 state parliaments have passed laws that expand the scope of protection orders, Court orders that legally prevent or restrict the perpetrator’s contactTo include pets within the circle of those protected.

State legislatures also take evidence of animal cruelty into consideration to guard people. Protective orders in cases of utmost risks or “Red Flag” laws allow the temporary removal of firearms from a dangerous situation by which someone could harm themselves or others. At least 4 states – Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey And Oregon – specifically cite a history of animal cruelty as a reason why an extreme risk protection order could possibly be issued.

At the federal level, Congress passed the Pet and Women Safety – or PAWS – Act to fund emergency shelters for people and their pets fleeing domestic violence. In 2022, Congress increased the budget for this program to 3 million US dollars.

Despite these measures to guard animal and human victims of domestic violence, we all know little about these cases and whether the police are called or whether arrests are made.

Only about half of the cases of violence in relationships – whether it’s animal cruelty or not – are reported to the police.

Victims of domestic violence have many reasons for not contacting the police. Some are afraid that the police is not going to consider them or is not going to give you the chance to stop the violence. Others are financially depending on their abuser or think that it’s a personal matter that’s not one of the police's business.

“Intentional cruelty”, not neglect

I’m a criminologist and have examined victims of violent crimeincluding domestic violence, for over 20 years. To investigate these cases of domestic violence and animal cruelty involving the police, my colleague, psychologist Mary Lou Randour, and I analyzed newly available data from the FBI. The FBI collects details on over 50 varieties of crimes from police departments across the United States and recently Animal cruelty to this list of crimes.

We used these data to look at intimate partner violence that occurred alongside animal cruelty. In such cases 85% of animal cruelty was intentional cruelty fairly than neglect. This result’s consistent with the belief that animal abusers use violence against pets as a weapon to manage their partner.

We also compared two groups of domestic violence cases where the police were called. One group involved domestic violence and animal cruelty. The second group included domestic violence and one other sort of crime, similar to arson, vandalism, or automobile theft.

Both groups of cases showed similar characteristics. two thirds of cases involved current dating partners in comparison with current spouses or former partners. In addition, most cases involved female victims with male perpetrators.

Arrests were the foremost difference between the 2 groups. Nearly two-thirds of domestic violence cases involving animal cruelty resulted in an arrest, in comparison with just over half of domestic violence cases involving one other crime.

It is vital to grasp this nearly 10 percentage point difference in arrests related to animal cruelty.

Arrests can serve necessary functions, including the immediate removal of a dangerous, violent offender from the situation. Arrests also provide evidence of a pattern of violence for interventions similar to Hazard risk assessments. Danger Risk Assessments consist of a series of questions utilized by health professionals, attorneys, and law enforcement to discover victims at highest risk of fatal or near-fatal intimate partner violence and refer them to immediate help and safety.

Extend laws to pets

Although we cannot explain this pattern from our data, we will suggest two ways by which animal cruelty might influence the choice to arrest.

Victims of domestic violence usually tend to request an arrest when their pet is injured or threatened than in other situations. Incidents involving violence against a partner and a pet may also end in an arrest as a result of their nature. Previous research points out that intimate partner violence related to animal cruelty is more serious than other types of violence.

Our work highlights the importance of laws that reach domestic violence protections to pets. It also highlights the necessary opportunity for law enforcement officials called to such incidents to attach victims with support services. To effectively support victims and their pets, police have to be informed about available pet-friendly services, including pet-friendly accommodation options.

In addition, our work demonstrates the necessity to encourage cooperation between police and animal welfare agencies. Animal welfare officers are the primary responders to animal cruelty. Just as police can detect animal cruelty when responding to domestic violence, animal welfare officers can find evidence of interpersonal violence. Established partnerships between police and animal welfare agencies can ensure the protection of each human and animal victims.

If you or someone is experiencing domestic violence or needs help finding a pet-friendly shelter, national resources can be found at National hotline for domestic violence cases And Safe havens for pets.