Who is affected by animal cruelty

For the most up-to-date listing of current and future guides, see www. Animal cruelty includes many kinds of mistreatment, from temporarily failing to provide essential care to the malicious killing or repeated torturing of an animal.

Every state defines animal cruelty differently, both in terms of the specific actions that are prohibited and the categories of animals that are protected. For example, hunting is exempted from animal cruelty laws and livestock are not protected, even though in both cases the animals are killed and quite often suffer.

Laws in some states protect wild animals from frivolous harm e. Animal cruelty cases tend to span the jurisdictions of several state and local agencies and departments, and the agency officially responsible for handling animal cruelty cases varies. Some jurisdictions have sophisticated programs within animal welfare organizations e. They may be called animal cruelty enforcement agents, humane law enforcement agents, cruelty investigators, or animal control officers, and while they may have the legal authority to investigate and enforce animal cruelty laws, the public often grants them less legitimacy than police.

In places without local animal welfare organizations, police may be solely responsible for enforcing all animal-protection laws. The intense public reaction to animal cruelty cases covered by the media suggests that the public is concerned about the treatment of animals and believes animal cruelty to be a social problem worthy of police attention. While some cases will be arduous, involving lengthy investigations, search warrants, and complex crime scenes, most cases of animal cruelty are not particularly complicated.

Particularly in cases of simple neglect, police who identify the signs of animal cruelty can offer information, suggestions for improving animal care, or warnings, which will usually rectify the situation before a serious tragedy occurs.

While specialized training is desirable, particularly for complicated hoarding cases or cases of physical abuse that will be prosecuted, most police officers need only a basic familiarity with animals' health and normal states of being to identify the warning signs of animal cruelty.

These signs may include the following: 7. National crime-reporting systems do not monitor animal cruelty. Doing so would be very difficult, because enforcement authority is scattered across thousands of state and local agencies, laws vary across states, and standardized reporting structures have not been developed.

The two major efforts to collect data on the prevalence of animal mistreatment rely primarily on media reports, rather than enforcement records, as the source. It discontinued the project because of excessive demands on staff Lockwood While the website includes a search engine and crime-mapping capabilities, it includes only those cases with a media reference or that proceeded to court.

As of April 18, , the database included over 17, cases in six countries. Despite the lack of national data, most researchers agree that cases of neglect constitute the vast majority of animal cruelty cases. As a result, the public may not fully understand the prevalence and nature of animal cruelty. The most obvious harm caused by animal cruelty is the pain and suffering endured by the animal. By taking action against animal cruelty, we protect animals and may uncover and perhaps prevent additional crimes.

Safe Haven provides up to 60 days of temporary shelter to animals from families affected by domestic violence, allowing families to leave an abusive situation while knowing their animal is safe and cared for. To learn more about our Safe Haven program, click here. The Wisconsin Humane Society is committed to providing protection, shelter, and care for wild and homeless animals.

Because of generous donors like you, they are able to rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome thousands of animals like me every year! In long-term starvation, degeneration of the liver, cardiac changes, anemia and skin lesions may develop.

An animal without proper shelter can also quickly succumb to extreme heat or cold. During extremely cold spells or hot periods, it is not uncommon for animal control officers to find companion animals—often chained dogs —literally frozen to the ground or dead from heat prostration because of lack of proper shelter from the elements. Often these animals perish only feet away from the homes in which their caretakers live. Dogs who are continually chained are also neglect victims, even if it may not be illegal in that particular jurisdiction.

Because dogs are social pack animals, isolating them at the end of a chain causes them anguish that can drive them to aggression, neuroses and self-mutilation behaviors. Chained dogs are also more likely to be victims of starvation, because their confinement renders them particularly helpless. This is particularly true in cases of animal hoarding , where a person takes in far too many animals than can be cared for and becomes virtually blind to their suffering.

Cats are the most common animal-hoarding victims. Because people who are insensitive to the suffering of animals are more likely to be unresponsive to the needs of dependent people in their household and vice versa , several states have "cross-reporting" laws. Also, there can be informal agreements between social welfare agencies where agents are encouraged to report suspected animal cruelty and neglect.

Although many people do not recognize animal neglect as illegal animal abuse, many states have a provision specifically addressing animal neglect written into their animal cruelty laws; others allow animal neglect to be prosecuted under the general cruelty statute prohibiting acts of "torture" against an animal.

Thirteen states have laws limiting the continuous chaining of dogs. Body condition scoring systems for cattle and horses have long been in place to help assess the condition of livestock, and in recent years scoring systems for dogs ranging from ideal to emaciated have been developed to help animal cruelty investigators and veterinarians assess cases of animal neglect. A major shortcoming of many animal neglect laws is their failure to address all animal species. For instance, many statutes specifically apply only to dogs and cats or "companion animals" and exclude those considered "farm animals" or trapped wildlife.

Prosecutors in some states have the option to charge an egregious case of animal neglect as a felony when the neglect was considered to have fallen under the definition of "torture," or was considered intentional although intent has been notoriously difficult to prove in court.

Still, felony convictions have been obtained in neglect cases resulting in the animals' deaths. There are several compelling reasons for treating animal neglect as a serious crime, including the extreme suffering involved and its implications for the welfare of other animals and people who may rely upon the abuser.

Be aware of the signs of animal neglect—including chained dogs, animal hoarding, or abandoned pets—and be willing to make a report to your local animal control agency. If your town or city does not have a local animal control, you can make a report to the sheriff or other law enforcement agency. Indeed, more than half of women in domestic violence shelters report that they delayed their escape out of fear for their animals. Both because animals themselves need protection, and because of the link between cruelty to animals and cruelty to humans, violence against animals must be taken seriously under the law.

There are some ways in which the law is reflecting this seriousness. For example, all 50 states now have felony animal cruelty laws on the books.

Nearly two thirds of states allow pets to be included in domestic violence protective orders. There are felony provisions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia for intentionally killing a dog or cat. At the federal level, there is progress, too.

This tracking will help paint a better picture of who is committing crimes against animals, and where these crimes are taking place — and will thus also help indicate where humans are also at risk. But we are not yet at the point where cruelty to animals is consistently reported, investigated, prosecuted, or punished in ways that match the seriousness of the crime. This is both for the sake of animal victims and for the safety of communities more broadly.