IDA Urges Psychiatric Evaluation for Puppy Abusers

Springfield, Tenn - In Defense of Animals (IDA) fired off a letter to Robertson County Assistant District Attorney Dent Morriss, urging him to prosecute two adolescents—11 and 14 year-old boys who are being charged with aggravated animal abuse for burning a puppy to death on a grill—to the fullest extent. The group suggests that the boys undergo psychiatric evaluation upon conviction.

IDA warns that studies have proved that violence towards animals is often a precursor to violence against people. Robert Ressler, founder of the FBI’s behavioral sciences unit, has described serial killers and other psychopathic torturers of people as “the kids who never learned it’s wrong to poke out a puppy’s eyes.” In one national survey of women seeking shelter from domestic violence in safe houses, 83% of women with companion animals reported that their batterers had also hurt or threatened the family pet.

“The strong connection between cruelty to animals has been recognized by the FBI, mental health experts, and animal protectionist. It is crucial, for everyone’s sake, that this case be taken seriously,” says IDA’s president Elliot Katz, DVM.

IDA’s letter to Assistant District Attorney Dent Morriss follows.

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Robertson County District
Assistant District Dent Morriss
500 S. Main Street
Springfield, TN 37172

August 16, 2004

Dear District Attorney Morriss:

On behalf of In Defense of Animals and our 80,000 members worldwide, I am writing in reference to a recent case of animal cruelty that your office is handling. During the incident two adolescent boys put a puppy on a lit grill and cooked the dog leading to his death. Child and animal protection professionals have recognized a link between violence toward animals and violence toward people.

The FBI and Scotland Yard recognize this link and consider violence towards animals as one of five key indicators of a person who will commit violent acts against people. A past history of violence is a predictor of future aggression. The American Psychiatric Association identifies cruelty to animals as one of the diagnostic criteria for conduct disorders. Experts agree that it is the severity of the behavior—not the species of the victim—that matters (see enclosure). FBI interviews with murderers showed that 36 percent had, as children, tortured and killed animals and that 46 percent had done so as adolescents. When asked how many serial killers had a history of abusing animals, FBI supervisory special agent Alan Brantley, a psychologist who was formerly on staff at a maximum security prison, said, “The real question should be, how many have not?”

Many schools have suffered the tragic consequences of cruelty to animals that was ignored or casually dismissed in recent years. Mississippi’s Luke Woodham, 16; Kentucky’s Michael Carneal, 14; Arkansas’ Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11; Oregon’s Kip Kinkel, 15; Georgia’s Thomas "TJ" Solomon Jr., 15; and Colorado’s Dylan Klebold, 17, and Eric Harris, 17, who perpetrated killing sprees in their schools, all had histories of killing animals, as did serial killers Jeffrey Dahmer, Albert DeSalvo (the “Boston Strangler”), David Berkowitz (the “Son of Sam”), and Russell Weston.

The strong connection between cruelty to animals has been recognized by the FBI, mental health experts, and animal protectionists. It is crucial, for everyone’s sake, that this case be taken seriously. On behalf of our eighty thousand members we ask that—upon conviction and in addition to a period of incarceration—the aforementioned suspects be required to undergo thorough psychiatric evaluations followed by mandatory counseling. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Elliot M Katz, DVM