BACK GROUND OF THE STUDY

There are many different reasons why individuals abuse animals. Animal cruelty covers a wide range of actions (or lack of action), so one blanket answer simply isn't possible. Each type of abuse has displayed certain patterns of behavior that we can use to help understand more about why people commit the crimes we encounter today.
Animal cruelty is often broken down into two main categories: active and passive, also referred to as commission and omission, respectively.

Passive Cruelty (Acts of Omission)

Passive cruelty is typified by cases of neglect, where the crime is a lack of action rather than the action itself - however do not let the terminology fool you. Severe animal neglect can cause incredible pain and suffering to an animal.

Examples of neglect are starvation, dehydration, parasite infestations, allowing a collar to grow into an animal's skin, inadequate shelter in extreme weather conditions, and failure to seek veterinary care when an animal needs medical attention.

In many cases of neglect where an investigator feels that the cruelty occurred as a result of ignorance, they may attempt to educate the pet owner and then revisit the situation to check for improvements. In more severe cases however, exigent circumstances may require that the animal is removed from the site immediately and taken in for urgent medical care.

Active Cruelty (Acts of Commission)

Active cruelty implies malicious intent, where a person has deliberately and intentionally caused harm to an animal, and is sometimes referred to as NAI (Non-Accidental Injury). Acts of intentional cruelty are often some of the most disturbing and should be considered signs of serious psychological problems. This type of behavior is often associated with sociopathic behavior and should be taken very seriously.

Animal abuse in violent homes can take many forms and can occur for many reasons. Many times a parent or domestic partner who is abusive may kill, or threaten to kill, the household pets to intimidate family members into sexual abuse, to remain silent about previous or current abuse, or simply to psychologically torture the victims, flexing their "power".

Major concerns in animal cruelty
1. Animal Neglecting
The most common type of animal cruelty is neglect or abandonment - that is, people not providing adequate care for animals in their charge. These types of cases often involve situations where an animal is left without food, water or shelter, or when proper veterinary care was not obtained. In many of these cases, the underlying reason can sometimes be explained by the caretaker's ignorance. This is why many animal control officers and humane law enforcement officers will first attempt to educate the neglectful caretaker, rather than immediately citing them or arresting them.

While ignorance can be blamed in some of these situations, an additional cause that seems to be a major contributor to neglect and abandonment cases is that the pet owner simply does not care. Even people with only the most basic knowledge of animal care can see that an animal has degenerated to the point where it is only skin and bones.

Many times, animals are purchased as pets, and simply forgotten about. Animals in this situation however do not merely gather dust. They are slowly starved or dehydrated to death, literally bled dry due to parasite infestations, or slowly garroted by their own collars.

Body Condition
• EMACIATED: Ribs, backbones, pelvic bones, etc. all prominent from a distance. No visible body fat, obvious loss of muscle mass.
• VERY THIN: Ribs, backbones, pelvic bones easily visible. No palpable fat. Minimal loss of muscle mass.
• THIN: Ribs easily palpated and may be visible with no palpable fat. Top of backbone visible. Pelvic bones becoming prominent. Obvious waist and abdominal tuck.
• UNDERWEIGHT: Ribs easily palpable with no visible fat covering. Waist easily noted, viewed from above. Abdominal tuck evident.
• IDEAL: Ribs palpable without excess fat covering. Waist observed behind ribs when viewed from above. Abdomen tucked up when viewed from side.
• OVERWEIGHT: Ribs palpable with slight excess fat covering. Waist is discernible viewed from above but is not prominent. Abdominal tuck apparent.
• HEAVY: Ribs palpable with difficulty, heavy fat cover. Noticeable fat deposits over lumbar area and base of tail. Waist absent or barely visible. Abdominal tuck may be absent.
• OBESE: Ribs not palpable under very heavy fat cover, or palpable only with significant pressure. Heavy fat deposits over backbone and base of tail. No waist or abdominal tuck. Obvious abdominal distension may be present.
• GROSSLY OBESE: Massive fat deposits on chest, spine, and base of tail. Waist and abdominal tuck absent. Fat deposits on neck and legs. Obvious abdominal distension.
2. Animal Poisoning and Shooting
Poisonings and shootings are the most common types of animal abuse we see in cases where a cat or dog was permitted to roam the neighborhood, either deliberately or by accident. All animal cruelty is tragic, but cases involving the shooting or poisoning of a companion animal are often even more tragic because in most situations, the act could have been prevented.

Individuals who allow their animal companions to go outside unsupervised are putting those animals in very real danger of being harmed by people who are irritated by animals' barking, defecating in yards, digging in flowerbeds, or bothering other animals. Those who are left alone in fenced-in yards or tethered at the end of chain are at the mercy of cruel neighbors or passersby who may maliciously harm them. It is imperative that pet owners supervise animals' time outdoors and ensure the safety of the animals they care for by taking them for walks on a leash, visiting parks, or playing in a safe, secure yard together.

3. Animal Crushing
Crush videos, also known as squish or trampling videos, cater to fetishists who gain sexual gratification from watching women torture and kill small animals by stepping on them.
Typically, those crushing will use their buttocks or feet, making this fetish popular amongst many foot fetishists, as crushing by feet is usually the main focus. The foot (barefoot or in shoes) is thus often idolized by someone with a crush fetish.
With the explosive growth of peer-to-peer file sharing networks, the availability and production of crush videos is already increasing dramatically.
Additionally, the increasing popularity of websites that thrive on displaying shocking and violent videos is putting more of these types of videos into the mainstream.

4. Bestiality
Bestiality (or zoophilia) is a paraphilia defined as an affinity, attraction or sexual attraction by a human to non-human animals. Because this topic deals openly about the nature of bestiality, it is intended for mature audiences only.
The term bestiality actually tells us much more about cultural attitudes toward animals than it does about sex with animals. Concern about bestiality generally focuses on human beings; thus experts tell us it is usually harmless while debating its frequency. If we call it forced sex with animals, we reclaim the animal's perspective as a central concern. It is more prevalent than we can measure and is not harmless; it is always animal abuse.

Types of sex with Animals
• Opportunistic or Safety-Valve sex: "I need a sexual release... they're available... there are no human partners around... I'll get it with an animal."
• Fixated Sex: Animals become love objects and are the exclusive sexual "partners" for a human.
• Domineering sex: When batterers, rapists and pornographers force sex between a human and an animal for purposes of humiliation, sexual exploitation, dominance and control. C.J.A. Safety-valve sex is often seen as a casual act of the curious young, as sexual exploration rather than deviancy.

5. Animal Experimentation
It is said that over 70 million animals are tortured and killed in laboratories each year. Rabbits are routinely blinded in a process named the 'Draize' test. The Draize test protects companies from potential lawsuits, and does not necessarily protect or guarantee human safety. Purchasing cosmetics from companies who specify no animal testing is one small step that can be taken to prevent animal cruelty. The medical research field also take part in animal experimentation.

6. Animals for Entertainment
Since 1990 captive elephants have killed 43 people. Elephants are peaceful animals, and this suggests that their treatment and cruel training techniques cause the animal to suffer and act in defence.

Bullfights and cockfights still exist in today's world. Bullfights in particular being incredibly gruesome and cruel, with animals being tortured and having spears thrown into their backs until they finally succumb to a slow death.
Greyhounds after finishing their racing life are often killed or sent for experimentation.

7. Fur Farms
Animals are 'harvested' for their fur on 'fur farms’; millions of animals each year are killed. Animal cruelty is also prevalent in the trapping of animals, which is one known method many trappers use.

Even those of us not directly engaged in the more nefarious activities of this nature metaphorically shrug and, remaining oblivious to the suffering, turn our attention to the relatively inconsequential and superficial as more appropriate and deserving focal points for our sympathy.