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Animal abuse and children living in deplorable conditions- the disturbing link
By Amy Wood
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
The call came in as animal neglect. That’s when officers saw the children. Tonight 3 of them were removed from a Spartanburg County home. Officials say they were living in deplorable conditions.
American Humane is a group that works to protect children and animals and they just held a national town hall meeting to shed light on the link between animal abuse and domestic problems.
It’s not clear in this case in Spartanburg County, if any neglect charges will be filed.
But nationally there is a strong link between the abuse and neglect of animals and maltreatment of children.
American Humane says when animals are abused and neglected, it is a warning sign that others in the home may not be safe.
And it can involve much more than neglect. In one study, 88 percent of 57 families being treated for incidents of child abuse also abused animals. Of 38 women seeking shelter at a safe house, 74 percent reported having a pet, and 71 percent reported that their pet had been threatened or harmed—one third of the time by the children. Children often use their pets as a scapegoat for their anger.
Some states like Maine and New Jersey are taking action, passing or considering bills that connect animal cruelty and child cruelty and step up the punishment.
The state of Georgia now requires potential adoptive or foster parents with pets to list the name and species of each pet. They are also given a foster parent manual that covers how children can be safe around dogs.
Here’s more info from American Humane’s website:
Nearly all states now have felony-level penalties for animal cruelty.
Several states require veterinarians to report suspected animal abuse and offer immunity from civil and criminal liability to those who report cruelty.
Some states require animal control officers to report suspected child abuse or neglect and receive training in how to do so.
A few states permit child and adult protection workers to report suspected animal abuse or receive training on identifying and reporting animal cruelty.
Nearly half the states call for psychological counseling for individuals convicted of animal cruelty.
You can post comments below and click into CW LIVE CHAT to talk over this problem in our communities.
COMMENTS
Why do people even get animals - or have children for that matter - if they are not going to care for them properly?
With that being said, it does concern me that the “agencies” are being given more authority with our children. Some people that have been given this kind of authority look for every little thing to report about us and our children.
The sad part about this is these children have been living in conditions not fit for animals…poor children! Shame on these parents, jail them!
IF PEOPLE ARE GOING TO GET ANIMAL’S HOPE THEY KNOW THERE IS SOME REPONSEABLE THAT COMES WITH THAT . AND THIS ALSO MEAN’S THE SAME THING WHEN HAVING KID’S . ME MYSELF I HOPE THEY GET THE HOUSE IN ORDER SO THEY CAN GET THE KID’S BACK . CAUSE BELIEVE ME I KNOW HOW IT FEEL’S TO LOSE YOUR PARENT’S. CAUSE I WENT THRU THAT ALONG TIME AGO MYSELF. WHAT THEY NEED TO DO IS GET RID OF ANYTHING THEIR NOT USING OR DON’T WANT ANYMORE AND THROW THEM AWAY. SHAME ON THE PARENT’S FOR LETTING THE HOUSE AND YARD TURN OUT THIS WAY.
This is SOOOOO sad!!! It breaks my heart that these innocent kids are having to leave like this all because of there parents!! I do believe that the parents do love them and care for them, but they have GOT to CLEAN there act up for sure!! Just imagine how the kids felt as they were being taken away…...I just couldn’t imagine what was going through there minds.
My ex-husband gave me pets as gifts and then killed them if I did something he didn’t like. It was his way of controlling me. It worked. I’m glad people are finally acknowledging the link between the different types of abusive behavior. All of these behaviors have the same goal…to make the abuser feel important by causing something or someone else to feel unimportant.
Parents have slacked up on teaching these lazy people ( when they were children ) how to be clean and responsible, just because they didn’t want to hear their mouths. Put this one down for Doctor Spock!
Time to break the old habits of being lazy and neglectful to real dutiesw. Oh yes, it’s gonna get worse if the people doesn’t wake up.
So wake up People.