Cruel Actions 

How sickening. On television recently you may have reluctantly witnessed the slow and deliberate torturing of a kitten at a train station in Sydney's Seven Hills.

The disturbing vision was captured by surveillance cameras at the station and shows the eight-week-old kitten being stoned, kicked and ridden over with a bicycle and then, with an obvious broken leg, attempting to hobble away to protect itself. The kitten was eventually dumped on the train tracks, presumably to be mutilated by a passing train.

Constable Michelle Moy managed to rescue the kitten and it was taken to the RSCPA in Sydney for treatment. Thankfully it is now recovering and shelter staff named the kitten 'Shelly' in recognition of Constable Michelle's rescue efforts.

If anything could make such evil treatment worse, it was that the crime was committed by three youths who have now been apprehended.

What does the future hold for youths that have such inhumane attitudes to animal cruelty?

It seems that we have need for great concern, not only for the safety of other animals, but also for the safety of people.

Professor Frank Ascione from Utah State University was in Australia recently talking about this very issue and he makes the point that children who abuse animals often do show violent behaviour as adults. He quotes a 1999 study (The relationship of animal abuse to violence and other form of antisocial behaviour - Arluke, Ascione, Levine and Luke) which states that 44% of battered women in a women's shelter confirm their partners have also previously abused or killed family pets.

Ascione also states that individuals who are prosecuted for animal abuse were three-and-a-half times as likely to have committed a criminal offence, including violence.

Other speakers in the field such as Phil Arkow, Chair of the Latham Foundation's International Child and Animal Abuse Prevention Project, makes the relevant connection between family violence and the proven view that pets are regarded as equivalent to a child in a family.

"Pets are all in the family and we need to redefine animal abuse as another form of family violence." He estimates that, in the United States, there are 360,000 women at risk of abuse because they don't want to leave an abusive home as they fear for their pets' safety.

While not all children who commit animal cruelty will later show violence to people, the link is clear enough for action to be taken.

It is now obvious that animal welfare agencies in Australia are better recognising the link. The next step is for alliances between animal and child welfare organizations to be established and this cross-reporting appears to be happening.

Thankfully, animal welfare education in Australia is well advanced.

Nationally, the RSPCA has been heavily involved in animal welfare education in the community and specific school education programmes have been conducted for many years.

Locally, the RSPCA in Queensland now has a mobile education unit named with the delightful acronym of EMU.

The Australian Veterinary Association also has a school education programme called Pet PEP. This initiative brings together teachers, school children, vets, vet nurses, councils and the RSPCA to help children learn important lessons about responsible pet care. 

The Delta Society's DogSafe programme also has similar goals and the Society's research has shown that their programme is effective in improving school children's attitudes to dogs.

What are parents doing about this issue?  It is important that, as parents, we guide and couch our children to develop humane attitudes to animals. If pet ownership fits with your lifestyle then having a pet is one of the best ways of helping your children to develop a compassionate view towards animals.

We can't all own pets but the discussion of animal cruelty and animal welfare can still occur - and especially when gruesome images of mistreatment such as that experienced by 'Shelly' appear in the media. And, if children are seen to develop wrongful attitudes to animals, stepping in immediately to correct such attitudes is vital.

More information on this topic is available from www.pethealth.com.au. Enter the word 'cruelty' in the search function.