Pet abuse should raise concerns for physical, emotional safety of children

In many families, companion animals play an important role and are considered family members. For children, pets can serve as playmates and non-judging confidants, and they can contribute to a child’s development of self-esteem, feelings of empathy and connection to others. Unfortunately, in the web of family violence, pets are not immune, and their abuse can be used to manipulate and harm other family members.

When a pediatrician is told of threatened harm or abuse of a pet, it may not be obvious immediately that this is a concern to prioritize. However, a growing body of research is revealing the worrisome implications for children in homes where a pet has been abused.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, as many as 70% of families with minors have pets (www.avma.org), and multiple studies of women receiving services for domestic violence (DV) have shown a similar pattern of pet ownership. Research in recent decades has revealed that the multiple forms of family violence (partner violence, child abuse, elder abuse) often co-occur; more recently documented is that companion animal abuse also is a component of this dynamic. Up to half to three-quarters of DV victims in shelters report that their abusive partner has harmed or killed one or more of their pets.

Abuse of pets raises concern for the children in these households for several reasons. First, witnessing the abuse of a beloved pet is emotionally distressing for the child. It also models a pattern of behavior that clearly is detrimental to healthy development.

In addition, abusers’ unrealistic expectations of pets may lead to abusive incidents such as beating a young puppy for urinating on the floor. This is especially worrisome since unrealistic developmental expectations also are a common trigger for child abuse (e.g., shaking injuries in crying infants and abuse of toddlers associated with toilet-training accidents).

Even when household violence is not directed at children, they may sustain injuries if caught in the “cross-fire.” In most homes where a pet is being abused, the children report intervening or attempting to intervene to protect their pet (McDonald SE, Collins EA. Child Abuse Negl. 2015;50:116-127).

The length of time children remain in these dangerous, sometimes deadly, environments may be prolonged by the presence of pets; concerns about the pets’ safety leads many victims to delay leaving their abusive homes.

Abusers whose violence includes abuse of family pets have been shown to be more controlling and to employ more dangerous forms of violence (e.g., rape and stalking) than abusers who do not abuse pets (Simmons CA, Lehmann PL. J Interpers Violence. 2007;22:1211-1222).

What pediatricians can do

For the reasons discussed here, pediatricians must be concerned for their patients’ safety when they have reason to believe a family pet has been abused or killed. Following are steps they can take to help protect their patients.

• Develop a protocol for how and when to make a report if abuse of a pet is disclosed.
• Advocate for local DV shelters to allow pets or develop foster programs to remove this barrier to leaving dangerous homes.
• Encourage local child protective service and animal humane organizations to work collaboratively to ensure that when a home is known to be affected by violence that the safety of all dependents is addressed.
• Offer trainings for animal control officers on recognizing red flags for child abuse, and participate in development of guidelines for when they should involve child protective services.
• Advocate for legislation to add penalties if animal cruelty is inflicted in the presence of a child and/or for child maltreatment that includes actual or threatened harm to a child’s pet to acknowledge that such animal abuse is emotionally abusive to the child.

Pediatricians have long understood that to advocate for their patients’ health and safety, they must advocate for the health and safety of the entire family. For many families, that includes their pets.

Dr. Harris is a member of the AAP Section on Child Abuse and Neglect.