Registering Animal Abusers in their communities

by Randall Lockwood, Ph.D.

We are frequently called upon to assist cruelty investigators, law-enforcement
officers, court officials or mental health professionals in evaluating the significance of an
individual's involvement in a particular act of animal cruelty as an indicator of
dangerousness or possible risk for involvement of future acts of violence against others.
The relatively low level of attention given to even the most serious acts of animal abuse
has made it difficult to systematically or quantitatively assess the various factors that
should be considered in evaluating the potential significance of various violent acts
against animals. However, the following factors are suggested as relevant criteria in
such evaluations. They are based on several sources including:

1. Retrospective studies of acts of cruelty against animals reported by violent
   offenders
2. Studies and reports of acts of animal cruelty committed prior to or in
   association with child abuse and/or domestic violence
3. Extrapolation from criteria used in threat assessment by the National Center
   for the Analysis of Violent Crime
4. Extrapolation from numerous studies on general characteristics of habitual
   violent offenders

There is, as yet, no absolute scale that determines when a particular collection
of factors reaches critical levels. It is suggested, conservatively, that more than five of
these aggravating factors should be cause for serious concern, and that more than ten
can indicate a high potential that the offender has been or will be involved in serious
acts of violence against people. [SOURCE]"

Animal cruelty needs to be taken seriously by the legal system. Laws must be tougher and sentences must be enforced. Strategy: Screening Animal Cruelty Cases for Domestic Violence has some incredible ideas and suggestions ...
[SOURCE]

A retired social worker and psychotherapist shares this opinion: Tougher laws needed on animal abuse