A Social Sentinel: Acts of Animal Cruelty Can Point to an Offender's Potential for Violence Against Humans

Most people are aware that animals play an important role as sentinels of disease and toxins in our environment. The proverbial canary in the coal mine is a well-known example: the sick canary served as a warning sign for impending physical danger to the miners.

Recently, more and more evidence suggests that animals can play a similar role with regards to social violence. Some of the most striking evidence for a link between animal cruelty and human violence lies in the case histories of many of the 20th century's most infamous criminals.

• Mass-murderer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer killed neighbors' pets and impaled a dog's head on a stick.
• Patrick Sherril, who murdered 14 co-workers and then killed himself, stole pets, then tied them up and allowed his own dog to mutilate them.
• David Berkowitz, the so-called "Son of Sam," shot his neighbor's labrador retriever.
• Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler," shot arrows into boxes of trapped cats and dogs.
• Brenda Spencer, who fired 40 shots into a crowd of children, murdering 2 and wounding 9, had a history of setting the tails of neighborhood cats and dogs on fire.
• Edmund Emil Kemper III, who murdered his mother and 7 other women, used to abuse cats and dogs.
• Carol Edmund Cole, who murdered 35 people, admitted that his first violent act was strangling a puppy.
• Richard Allen Davis, kidnapper and murderer, doused cats with gasoline and set them on fire.

Studies of prison inmates reveal that as many as 75% of violent offenders had early records of animal cruelty. There is also a high correlation between family violence and animal cruelty. A study in 1983 of New Jersey families referred to youth and family services for reasons of child abuse reported that 88% of cases had at least one member of the household who physically abused animals. An English researcher found that 83% of families reported for animal abuse also had children listed at high risk of abuse or neglect.

We close with the words of Immanuel Kant: "He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."

This information was compiled and researched by Eleanor Shelburne DVM of the Portland Veterinary Medical Association's animal welfare committee.