Why
Animal Related Crimes Should Not Be Ignored
By: Molly
Biehl
Margaret Mead once said,
"One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a
child is to kill or torture an animal and get away with
it," and if you think about it, that's the truth.
That incident will forever be imprinted in that child's mind.
In their subconscious mind, it will be okay to kill and
torture animals…and that kind of thought pattern can lead to
a destructive, dangerous life.
People that start out torturing or killing animals are more
likely to commit violent crimes against humans than people who
haven't. For example, Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston
Strangler," kept cats and dogs in crates, starved them,
then released them and watched them kill each other. He
also shot arrows into the boxes of trapped cats and dogs.
He later went on to rape and kill 13 women by strangulation. Animal abuse is an early warning sign of uncontrollable anger,
aggression, and violence. If someone can intentionally
hurt or kill an animal and find amusement in it they can
obviously do hard to a human being also.
All children go through a
stage of unintentional cruelty as they discover new things.
Sometimes they harm bugs or small animals without knowing it. Most children grow out of this stage, but some people become
locked into this harmful habit for the rest of their lives.
Keith Hunter Jesperson, also known as the "Happy Face
Killer", said "Choking a human being or a cat - it's
the same feeling." He also said,"I'm the very
end result of what happens when somebody kills an animal at an
early age."
Animal abuse may also be
a warning sign for child abuse. If an animal is being
abused in a home, a child is most likely also being abused.
Animal abuse could also be a sign that spousal abuse may be
going on. 61% of the 39 women, who had been abused by
their partners and were living in women's shelters in Hamilton
and Owen Sound, said their pets had either been abused or
killed by their partners. 48% said they were concerned
for their pets and didn't leave their abusive situations
sooner because of that. Three surveys of Wisconsin and
Utah shelters showed 74% of women with pets said their animals
had been abused or killed by their partners.
In conclusion, animal
abuse may not seem to be a big issue to some people, but in
reality, violence is violence, murder is murder, and to a
killer, taking a life is taking a life. If only animal
abuse would be taken seriously, dangerous people would be
caught earlier, and many, many lives would be saved.
Molly Biehl is the Critter Haven Youth Coordinator and wrote the above report at age 15 for her 9th grade English class in school. More information on this topic can be found by clicking here.