Fast Facts on the Cycle of Violence
In the News...
The first study to provide detailed analyses of the relationship between childhood animal cruelty and adult violent behavior has been completed by a University of South Florida scientist and her associate. MORE...
Notorious killers who first harmed animals:
- As a child, serial killer and rapist Ted Bundy—ultimately convicted of two killings but suspected of murdering more than 40 women—witnessed his grandfather Samuel abusing the family dog and swinging neighbourhood cats around by their tails. Bundy himself subsequently tortured and mutilated animals.
- Earl Kenneth Shriner, who raped and stabbed a 7-year-old boy, was known in his neighborhood for hanging cats and torturing dogs.
- David Berkowitz (a.k.a. “Son of Sam”), who pleaded guilty to 13 murder and attempted murder charges, shot a neighbor’s Labrador retriever.
- Brenda Spencer, who opened fire at a California school, killing two children and injuring nine others, had repeatedly abused cats and dogs, often setting their tails on fire.
- Serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer impaled the heads of dogs and cats on sticks.
Young school shooters who first “practiced” on animals:
- April 1999/Littleton, Colo. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot to death 12 fellow students and a teacher and injured more than 20 others. Both teens had reportedly boasted about mutilating animals.
- May 1998/Springfield, Ore. Kip Kinkel, 15, killed his parents and opened fire in his high school cafeteria, killing two and injuring 22 others. He had a history of animal abuse and torture, having boasted about blowing up a cow and killing cats, chipmunks, and squirrels by putting lit firecrackers in their mouths.
- March 1998/Jonesboro, Ark. Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, pulled their school’s fire alarm and then shot and killed four classmates and a teacher. Golden reportedly used to shoot dogs “all the time with a .22.”
- December 1997/West Paducah, Ky. Michael Carneal, 14, shot and killed three students during a school prayer meeting. Carneal had been heard talking about throwing a cat into a bonfire.
- October 1997/Pearl, Miss. Luke Woodham, 16, shot and killed two of his classmates and injured seven others after stabbing his mother to death. Woodham’s journal revealed that, in a moment of “true beauty,” he and a friend had beaten, burned, and tortured his own dog, Sparkle, to death.
The Human Violence-Animal Abuse Link:
A 1997 study by the MSPA and Northeastern University found that 70% of animal abusers had committed at least one other criminal offense, and almost 40% had committed violent crimes against people.
A 1986 study reported that 48% of convicted rapists and 30% of convicted child molesters admitted perpetrating acts of animal cruelty in their childhood or adolescence (Tingle et al., 1986).
A history of animal abuse was found in 25% of aggressive male criminals, 30% of convicted child molesters, 36% of those who assaulted women and 46% of those convicted of sexual homicide. (Petrovoski, 1997)
The Domestic Violence-Animal Abuse Link:
In 3 surveys in women's shelters in WI and UT in the late 1990's an average of 74% of women with companion animals reported that the animal(s) had been threatened, injured or killed by their abuser (Ascione 1995 & 1997 and Quinlisk, 1995).
The Buffalo, NY police department and the SPCA of Erie County found that 1/3 of the residences with animal abuse complaints also had domestic violence complaints (1998).
A survey of women in a safe house in UT found that 20% delayed leaving the abusive situation out of fear that their companion animal would be harmed. Data currently being collected in Canada found almost 50% delayed leaving for the same reason. (Ascione, 1997).
The Child Abuse-Animal Abuse Link:
A 1983 survey in NJ of families reported for child abuse found that in 83% of the families, at least one person had abused animals (Devinne, Dickered & Lockwood, 1983).
The NJ study also found that in 2/3 of these cases, the abusive parent had injured or killed a companion animal and in 1/3 of the cases, children had abused animals.
A study by the Royal SPCA in Great Britain found that 83% of families with a history of animal abuse had also been identified by social service agencies as at-risk for child abuse or neglect (Hutton, 1981).
Convicted Animal Abusers Were Found Violent Toward People:
A 1999 Canadian study of 63 suspects who were charged with animal cruelty—ranging from severe animal neglect to intentional killing—found that 78 percent of them had also been charged with offenses involving violence, or the threat of violence, against people. A survey of psychiatric patients who had repeatedly tortured dogs and cats found that all of them had high levels of aggression toward people as well.