Because domestic abuse is directed toward the powerless, animal abuse and child abuse often go hand in hand. Parents who neglect an animals need for proper care or abuse animals may also abuse or neglect their own children. Some abusive adults who know better than to abuse a child in public have no such qualms about abusing an animal publicly.

In 88 percent of 57 New Jersey families being treated for child abuse, animals in the home had been abused.(18) Of 23 British families with a history of animal neglect, 83 percent had been identified by experts as having children at risk of abuse or neglect.(19) In one study of battered women, 57 percent of those with pets said their partners had harmed or killed the animals. One in four said that she stayed with the batterer because she feared leaving the pet behind.(20)

While animal abuse is an important sign of child abuse, the parent isnt always the one harming the animal. Children who abuse animals may be repeating a lesson learned at home; like their parents, they are reacting to anger or frustration with violence. Their violence is directed at the only individual in the family more vulnerable than themselves: an animal. One expert says, "Children in violent homes are characterized by ... frequently participating in pecking-order battering," in which they may maim or kill an animal. Indeed, domestic violence is the most common background for childhood cruelty to animals.(21)

In violent homes, child abuse, animal abuse and domestic violence may occur individually or collectively. There is no specific causal relationship that has been defined as yet: violence against animals does not necessarily escalate into antisocial behaviours, but were not surprised when it does.Its also important to recognize that family violence is only one component of widespread community violence which creates dangerous role models and an atmosphere of fear for impressionable children. As Debbie Duel, former humane educator for the Washington (D.C.) Humane Society said, "How can I go into a classroom and teach children to be kind to animals when theyre afraid to walk to school because of drive-by shootings?"Its also not as simple as dad hitting mom, mom yelling at the kids, and the kids taking their anger out on the dog. Animal abuse in violent homes can take many ugly forms: abusive parents kill, or threaten to kill, pets to coerce children into sexual abuse or remaining silent about such abuse battered women are afraid to leave violent homes because their partners will kill the animals, or because there is no one to take care of the animals if they leave disturbed children kill animals to rehearse their own suicide, or to pre-empt an abusive parent from killing the pet. When perpetrated by children, animal abuse can represent a dangerous inability for a child to empathize with others; when witnessed by children, animal maltreatment may be part of a desensitizing pattern that sets a violent course which may be lifelong. Margaret Mead has written, "One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to kill or torture an animal and get away with it."In short, in violent homes, both two- and four-legged members of the family are vulnerable to victimization.Animal abuse is often one of the earliest signs of an individual or a family in trouble. And its often the animal care or control agency thats first on the scene to identify a family in need of social service intervention. Simply put, when animals are abused, people are at risk; when people are abused, animals are likewise in danger.

Shelter women were more likely to report that their partners had threatened to hurt their pets (52%) than community sample women (16.7%). The severity of these threats was also higher in the shelter sample. Actual hurting or killing of pets was reported by 54% of the shelter women but only 3.5% of the community women. In the majority of cases, shelter women reported that multiple incidents of hurting or killing pets had occurred. In the shelter group, nearly one in four women reported that concern for their pets had kept them from coming in to the shelter sooner.Approximately half of the shelter women reported that their children had witnessed pet abuse in contrast to less than four percent of the community sample women. One in four shelter group women and one in five community group women reported that one of their children had hurt or killed pets. The severity of hurting pets was lower, however, for the community group children. Shelter group children also displayed higher behavior problem scores on a standardized measure than community group children.