Animal Abuse

1. Animal Abuse
Studies show that psychopaths, convicted serial killers, and serial
rapists are very likely to have abused animals. “Animal abuse is not
just the result of a minor personality flaw in the abuser—it is a
symptom of a deep mental disturbance.” What makes people abuse
animals?

2. Mental Illness
There is a correlation between serious mental illness and cruelty of every sort
Many believe that insane tendencies manifest themselves in “small” ways before
“big” ways, meaning that a person is more likely to abuse or kill an animal before
abusing or killing a person
Up to 75 percent of domestic violence victims report that their partners threatened
or killed family pets

3. Neglect
Some people abuse animals unintentionally, or passively
Not knowing how to take care of an animal, having too many animals to care for
sufficiently, also called animal hoarding (laws on how many that technically is
varies in each state), and not having enough time to care for an animal are all
reasons a person can neglect a creature
Passive abuse can be just as harmful as physical, aggressive abuse

5. Previous Abuse
Abuse is often a vicious cycle; if a person is abused themselves, they are very likely
to hurt other people or animals as emotional backlash, either close to when the
event occurs, or many years down the road
People who have been abused can feel helpless and out of control. They take their
anger out on animals or people to get rid of frustration and to see in some twisted
way that they can control a part of their life

6. The Cycle of Abuse

7. Respect
Some people believe that animals deserve no respect; since humans are the
“supreme race” on earth, abusers can feel that it is their right to do whatever they
want, that they own an animal and that makes it ok to abuse
Because of this thought process, they might feel that violence is the way to keep less
powerful animals and people “in their place”

8. Other Motivations
To shock people, or for amusement
Retaliation against a person by hurting their pet
To experience sadism
Peer pressure
Mood enhancement
Sexual gratification (Beastiality)
Animal phobias
Post-traumatic play (if they were hurt by an animal previously)

9. Prevention
A 2009 US study of 14,000 college students found that today's young people are 40
percent less empathetic than college kids from 30 years ago. Our society should be
very worried about this, however, the fact that our next generation doesn’t really care
predicts that animal cruelty will persist and people in future may not care as much
about stopping it. The only way to prevent so many animals from suffering is to
educate the public about proper animal care. Animals feel pain just as acutely as
humans, and prevention starts when we make it start.

10. Bibliography
Missimer, Rick (2012, September 2). Reasons That People Abuse Animals. Retrieved
from http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/13517/1/Reasons-That-People- Abuse-
Animals.html
Ressler, Robert K. (2011, December 16). Retrieved from http://www.peta.org/issues/
companion-animal-issues/cruel-practices/human-animal-abuse/
Silver, Brian (2009, April 27). Animal Cruelty Syndrome. Retrieved from
http://cfawr.org/animal-abuse.php