The Intertwined Well-Being of Children and Non-Human Animals

An Analysis of Animal Control Reports Involving Children

Bibliographic Data

ID13027554
AuthorsAnna Marie Campbell (0000-0002-0285-6297, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume11
Issue2
Pages46-46
Publication date2022-01-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2076-0760 • E-ISSN: 2076-0760
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/socsci11020046
OpenAlexW4210398993
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited58

The well-being of children and non-human animals (subsequently referred to as animals) is often intertwined. Communities are unlikely to be able to best protect humans from abuse and harm unless they are working to ensure the safety of animals who reside there as well. This study is the first to utilize U.S. animal control report data and narratives to explore how children are involved in cases of animal cruelty. Children engage in abusive acts toward animals, alone, or along with peers and/or adults. Children were found to inflict abuse most often with their hands or feet as opposed to with a weapon or other object. A total of 85% of animal cruelty perpetrated by children was toward a dog or cat. Key differences between how children are involved in acts of cruelty to companion animals compared with acts involving wild animals are described and warrant further study. The cases of animal abuse or neglect reported by children were among the most severe in the study, and often involved an adult perpetrator known to the child. Neighbors rarely report child abuse or intimate partner violence in the United States, but 89% of the animal cruelty cases involving children in this study were reported by a neighbor or passerby. Although children involved in reports as a perpetrator or reporter were most often in early adolescence, children involved in cross-reports between child welfare and animal control were often under the age of 5. Improved cross-reporting and stronger partnerships between human and animal welfare agencies may provide opportunity for earlier intervention and is likely to better many human and animal lives

Animal welfare · Animal-assisted therapy · Biology · Child abuse · Criminology · Cruelty · Developmental psychology · Environmental health · Harm · HUBzero · Injury prevention · Neglect · Pet therapy · Poison control · Psychiatry · Child Abuse and Trauma · Human-Animal Interaction Studies · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology · Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses

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