Research linking animal abuse and intimate partner violence

The incidence of animal abuse in the context of intimate partner violence, derived from two case-control studies (U.S. and Australia)and other recent research will be reported. (A more general treatment of animal abuse may be found in Ascione, 2005,2008).Collectively, the studies show that pet abuse by intimate partners is a common experience for women who are battered and who have sought safety at domestic violence shelters. If children are present, they are often exposed to pet abuse—an experience that may compromise their physical and mental health. Family pets may become pawns in a sometimes deadly form of coercion and terrorizing used by some batterers. And women's concerns about the welfare of their pets may be an obstacle to fleeing violent partners and may affect women's decision making about staying with, leaving, and/or returning to batterers. Women's welfare, children's welfare, and animal welfare are interconnected.