The Link
"The Link": "As a society, we want to do what we can to stop animal cruelty.
Why? The reasons vary from wanting to protect the animals for their own sake to
wanting to protect society from future acts of violence.... we do know that animal
cruelty is often considered to be the beginnings of violent or abhorrent behavior."
Randall Lockwood, Ph.d. CAAB, is currently with the ASPCA, in the ASPCA
Anti-Cruelty Initiatives and Training division. Dr. Lockwood was the force behind the
Humane Society of the United States program, First Strike. While with HSUS, he
along with the FBI, released a study entitled "The Tangled Web of Abuse" . The
study "...details evidence that those who abuse animals, especially those who begin
at an early age, will go on to abuse people. Indeed, Jeffrey Dahmer, Kip Kinkel and
the Columbine High School killers (and many more) all had a history of animal
abuse.... The principals behind the First Strike program warn us that cruelty has
interchangeable victims _---- whether it's animals, children, or adults abused in a
domestic setting."
Educating teachers and school administrators to these facts/issues can help them
know what to look for in school children and possibly intervene on the child's behalf.
This won't be a guarantee that the intervention will help but
it can be a valuable tool to help teachers and administrators deal with situations
that may arise. The Link obviously is also very important to law enforcement
officers, prosecutors, social workers, animal control agencies and other
members of the community.
Why? The reasons vary from wanting to protect the animals for their own sake to
wanting to protect society from future acts of violence.... we do know that animal
cruelty is often considered to be the beginnings of violent or abhorrent behavior."
Randall Lockwood, Ph.d. CAAB, is currently with the ASPCA, in the ASPCA
Anti-Cruelty Initiatives and Training division. Dr. Lockwood was the force behind the
Humane Society of the United States program, First Strike. While with HSUS, he
along with the FBI, released a study entitled "The Tangled Web of Abuse" . The
study "...details evidence that those who abuse animals, especially those who begin
at an early age, will go on to abuse people. Indeed, Jeffrey Dahmer, Kip Kinkel and
the Columbine High School killers (and many more) all had a history of animal
abuse.... The principals behind the First Strike program warn us that cruelty has
interchangeable victims _---- whether it's animals, children, or adults abused in a
domestic setting."
Educating teachers and school administrators to these facts/issues can help them
know what to look for in school children and possibly intervene on the child's behalf.
This won't be a guarantee that the intervention will help but
it can be a valuable tool to help teachers and administrators deal with situations
that may arise. The Link obviously is also very important to law enforcement
officers, prosecutors, social workers, animal control agencies and other
members of the community.
Read American Humane's informative article on their work on "the Link": |
