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USF study finds childhood animal cruelty is indicator for violent offenders

Michelle Cobas, (813) 974-9067

TAMPA, Fla. (March 1, 2003) - Offenders of violent crimes are significantly
more likely to have abused pets and stray animals in their childhood,
according to a study by University of South Florida professor Kathleen
Heide and animal welfare expert Linda Merz-Perez. Indicating that animal
abuse during childhood serves as a "red flag" early on, the study is the
first to provide both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the correlation
between childhood animal cruelty and adult violent behavior. The results
are published in Heide's recently released third book, Animal Cruelty:
Pathway to Violence Against People, co-authored by Merz-Perez.

The findings from the study have far-reaching implications for the
fields of juvenile justice, domestic abuse, animal welfare and rights,
developmental psychology and law enforcement. Results bring to the
fore important issues for parents and guardians, such as taking the first
signs of cruelty toward animals seriously and immediately intervening
in instances of abuse.

"We're not just talking about kicking a dog here," Heide said. "The
violent offenders, in sharp contrast to the non-violent offenders, were
far more likely as children to have committed extreme acts of abuse
against a family pet or neighborhood animals-acts that the average
person would find abhorrent and somewhat gruesome." Acts of animal
cruelty reported by violent offenders included stomping a kitten to death,
setting a dog on fire and having sex with an animal.

Participants for the scientific study were selected from a random sample
of approximately 100 male violent and non-violent inmates at a
maximum-security facility. Among the violent offenders, 33 percent
were convicted of murder, manslaughter or attempted murder; 31 percent
were convicted of sexual battery; and the rest were convicted of other
violent offenses. The researchers interviewed the participants and then
coded the data using two data collection instruments: The first identified
the type of cruelty according to pet, stray, wild and farm animal categories,
and the second measured levels of abuse and neglect that inmates
reported experiencing in their families.

Heide and Merz-Perez found that the incidence of child abuse and
neglect in the two samples was high. What set the violent offenders
apart from the non-violent offenders was not their histories of child
abuse. Rather, it was their experiences mistreating animals as children.
In addition to being significantly more likely than non-violent offenders
to have abused pet and stray animals, violent offenders also showed a
tendency toward abuse of wild and farm animals.

"We noticed in some cases that the type of abuse violent offenders
inflicted on an animal was similar to the type of act they later committed
on people," Heide said. "Also, violent offenders rarely expressed any
remorse for their actions or empathy for the animals."

The study points out that early intervention following an act of
animal cruelty is imperative to helping ensure that adolescents do not
follow a path of violent behavior. Specifically, the study suggests that
corrective intervention that helps the child develop empathy for the
animal as a living, breathing being is an effective preventative strategy.

"In one instance, a non-violent offender related that he had received
a rifle as a birthday gift from his grandfather when he was a boy. He
wanted to see what the gun would do so he went outside and impulsively
shot and killed a neighbor's pig. His grandfather, after learning what
the boy did, broke the gun and made the boy work for a year on his
neighbor's farm, feeding and caring for the pigs as punishment," Heide
said. "As a result, the participant developed tender feelings and sincere
remorse for these animals, and never did anything like this again."

The only instances in which non-violent offenders had a record of
abusing domestic animals were in three cases where participants
used their animals in competitive dog fighting. These individuals did
not view the dogs as victims. Rather they saw their dogs as warriors,
according to Merz-Perez.

"These men exhibited great pride in their animals, providing them
with food, shelter and medical care when necessary," Merz-Perez
said. "Given their cultural background and experiences, they thought
it would have been cruel not to let their dogs fight."

Heide is professor of criminology, a licensed mental health counselor,
and interim dean of arts and sciences at USF. She is an internationally
recognized expert on adolescent homicide, family violence, personality
assessment and juvenile justice, and is the author of two other
books, Why Kids Kill Parents: Child Abuse and Adolescent Homicide
and Young Killers: The Challenge of Juvenile Homicide. Merz-Perez,
a USF alumna, is a certified animal control officer and former executive
director of the Humane Society of Shelby County, Alabama. She serves
on the boards of Hand-in-Paw of Birmingham, Ala., and the SPCA of
West Pasco, Fla., and is a national consultant on matters relating to
animal cruelty and welfare.

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