 Purred: Fri Oct 19, '07 12:55pm PST |
 | |  | |  EXCELLENT question!!!! It is not enough to feel sad or get angry. We must act!
We have been writing letters and contacting DA's in high-profile cases as Jack has.
We also were able to contact the family of a young man who had a video of himself abusing the family cat, get the ASPCA to the house, and have the parents know of his abuse and get him help.
Now one thing meowmy wants to do is go to the battered women's shelters in her city and find out if they allow pets, and if not, why not? And give them info on why it is better to allow pets in these shelters:
In a national survey of 48 domestic violence shelters:
1) 85.4% women disclosed animal abuse
63% children disclosed animal abuse
Only 13 of the 48 shelters asked about pets
2) 88% of homes with abused/neglected children also have abused/neglected pets
3) 18 - 48% of battered women have delayed leaving an abusive home, or have returned to their batterer, out of fear for the welfare of their pets or livestock
Does it make sense then to allow pets in the shelters? 
Another idea we had was to prepare "factsheets" on the link between animal abuse and human violence for groups that deal with children: PTA's, church groups, Big Brother/Big Sister, homeless shelters, the police, prosecutors, anyone else we can think of! It is NOT just boys being boys when an animal is abused.
In the school shootings between 1996 - 1999, 5 out of the 11 perpetators had abused animals, many of them bragging about torturing them.
Of all the crimes young people commit, animal cruelty is known to be the BEST predictor of future crimes.
So there are many ways to get involved and fight this terrible tragedy, and I'm so glad you asked the question!! I'm looking forward to what others have to say. Unfortunately, we won't be out of a job anytime soon....  |  |  | |  |
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i'm also trying to get a paying job at a vet hospital. so i keep trying.
