Strategy: Screening Animal Cruelty Cases for Domestic Violence

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NATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL

Strategy: Screening Animal Cruelty Cases for Domestic Violence

 

STRATEGY

Use reports of animal abuse to uncover domestic violence, child and elder abuse, and neglect in the community.

KEY COMPONENTS

The Boston Police Department, in partnership with the New England Animal Control/Humane Task Force, started the LINK-UP program in 1995 to detect and intervene in incidents of domestic violence. Police officers work closely with animal control officers to recognize the signs of domestic violence and child abuse underlying many cases of animal abuse.

LINK-UP educates officers and first responders about the connection between animal abuse and domestic violence. Staff is taught to respond to cases of animal abuse with an awareness of "the Link" and to use those reports to investigate into further violence within the home. Animal Control notifies police officers when a severe case of animal abuse or neglect has been confirmed. Officers make home visits to assess the situation and bring literature on domestic violence with them to broach the subject with family members. Their presence shows possible victims that there is a support system available to them.

STRATEGY IN ACTION

A local resident went down to the Animal Rescue League in Boston and turned in two dogs he could no longer care for. The dogs were extremely malnourished and showed signs of severe physical trauma from beatings. They were so far gone that they had to be euthanized. Animal rescue workers had recently been trained on the link between animal abuse and domestic violence with the LINK-UP Program, so they began doing some research on the case. After finding that there were three young children in the home, the animal rescue workers contacted the Boston Police Department and officers were sent out to do a home visit.

The rest of this article is at:

http://www.ncpc.org/ncpc/ncpc/?pg=2088-11202

 

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