Abuse of animals rears it's ugly head again

I was a little late reading the paper this morning.  Part of me wishes I had not read it at all.  But I did...and I'm sickened and saddened.

The Morning Journal had not 1 but TWO different stories of animals being harmed:  one was a cat that was found a cat hung by an electric cord.  The second was the report of a group of kids torturing a lost chihuahua.  The owner was located and retrieved her dog and took it to the vet.  Hopefully the dog will be OK physically but the long term affects on his mental well being may be the most harmed.

For those of you saying 'it's just a cat', or 'it's just a dog', or 'it's just kids being kids', it's not.  The leap from animal abuse, torture and killing to domestic violence, child abuse, serial killings and even murder at the hands of children has been studied by the FBI, other law enforcement agencies and researchers.  A study by North Eastern University and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Animals found that people who abused animals as a child or adult were FIVE times more likely to abuse humans than those who did not.  Numerous notorious killers (Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and Albert Disalvo aka the Boston Strangler) were known to had been linked to animal abuse as children (for further reading and where I gathered this information go here).

Next time you see a child hurting an animal, get involved.  If it's your child, get him/her into counseling to find out why and stop the cycle.  If it's a child you don't know well or at all, call the police.  Provide as much information as possible to help the police identify them.  You will not only help the abused animal but also stop the cycle of abuse by getting involved.