This is a Catch-22; While trying to raise awareness of the problems of animal abuse, animal advocacy groups, law enforcement officials and concerned citizens publish the details of the horrific crimes of animal abuse, but in our efforts to raise awareness, are we really helping to perpetrate more crimes?

Take the case of Michael Vick, a high-profile, celebrity, animal cruelty, dogfighting case. It has been publicized to the point that people who have never heard of Michael Vick now know who he is and what he has done. People who never knew the horrors of dogfighting have received an education they never anticipated or expected. Now watch the news; story after story about dogfighting. I’m not talking about the big dogfighting rings that have been discovered because the public has been sensitized, that is very positive! I’m talking about the stories that are emerging of children on street corners, alleys and backyards, fighting dogs, arrests of 12- and 15-year-olds. Has this been happening all along or can any of this be attributed to these kids emulating a ‘sports hero’ and all the hype surrounding the story?

What about dog burns? There have been two relatively recent, high-profile and highly publicized cases in which dogs were sprayed with an accelerator and set on fire; the DeShawn Brown case in which Mercy, a 10-month-old pit bull, was stabbed and set on fire and the Derick Phanord case in which another pit bull, nicknamed Maximus, was sprayed and set on fire, both dogs eventually died from their wounds. Now we hear that this happens more and more. Juan Daniels, 20, was arrested in Alabama for ‘presumably’ beating his family’s dog and then setting it on fire after he was denied use of the family car. There have been a number of dog burns in Atlanta, nearly a dozen. Officials originally thought this could be attributed to gang activity, but now they just don’t know. There have also been several other cases where dogs were set on fire or caustic was spilled and no one was caught or arrested.

After hearing more and more stories like this, I begin to question, in an attempt to raise awareness of the problems of animal abuse, whether these highly publicized accounts are actually perpetuating violence. Are there sick and twisted people who read these stories and have fun and get ideas?

Everyone has heard of copycat crimes. Someone finds out about something someone else has done and, for some unhealthy reason or another, is intrigued or excited and thinks they will do the same themselves. Is this happening with many of these horrible animal abuse crimes or would the people who are doing these things be doing them anyway?

And what about scenes in movies that portray animal abuse and other abuses? Do these lead to emulations and copycat crimes?

To be honest, in all the research I’ve done, the results are disappointingly inconclusive, one way or another. There is a lot of talk, discussion and opinions, but there is no real evidence to prove or disprove. One of the problems is the lack of a central database on animal abuse, even the FBI does not classify animal abuse crimes separately and the lack of reports on animal abuse. This can often be attributed to the fact that many people regard animals as ‘just a dog’ or ‘just a cat’ and place very little value on their life. And as much as animal advocates try to advertise to raise awareness of the atrocity of animal abuse, there are others who trivialize it, often the same system that advocates are working on to show that changes must come, the legal system. and judicial.

They trivialize by not charging abusers, dismissing charges and giving such lenient sentences that they send a “no big deal.” You see these cases and sentences publicized all the time and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the message this sends.

At this point, since there are no rigorous statistical analyzes to support any solid conclusions, based solely on research of what is available, I am going to present some hypotheses of what I believe.

DONE – The statistics available on animal abuse show a steady increase in cases of animal abuse.

HYPOTHESIS – It is impossible to conclude from the statistics whether animal abuse is increasing or, due to increased awareness, reporting is increasing. There is no doubt that animal rights have raised awareness of these crimes, especially with the finally recognized link between animal abuse and other forms of violence.

DONE – There is an increase in “similar crimes” reported in the media and law enforcement agencies following a highly publicized crime of animal abuse.

HYPOTHESIS – I think this is due to two reasons; increased awareness of the crime in particular makes people more sensitive to it and more apt to report it if they are aware of it, and I think there is some emulation of the crime. How much to attribute to one cause or the other is debatable and I think it depends on the crime itself, as well as many other factors.

A person who ever kicked or lashed out at the family dog ​​in anger may now take out that same dog, beat it and set it on fire because that image is locked in your subconscious.

In conclusion, I believe that as a society we are more insensitive to crime, against people and animals because of the images that we face every day; in the news, in the movies, on television. I think there is more than one potential for crimes of imitation by advertising.

Regarding animal abuse, does advertising perpetuate more animal abuse? I guess my final thoughts on this are that may perpetuate “similar crimes”, but the people who do these things are people who were probably going to do “something” anyway, either now or later. Your normal, average person who does not have these tendencies is not going to suddenly decide that they are going to get excited about hurting, abusing or killing an animal just because they heard someone else do it. It will be someone who already has a moral and empathic deficit, someone who, in one way or another, is already on that path.

Is it worth the risk? Due to the recognized link between animal abuse and interpersonal crimes, and the general leniency of animal abuse laws, I believe that it is necessary, within reasonable limits, to do everything possible to raise public awareness of the atrocity of the crime of animal abuse so that people demand stronger laws and sentences in these cases. Very often, animal abuse is the first step towards even more vicious crimes and, at other times, it is committed in conjunction with other crimes; child abuse, spousal abuse, etc. If we can raise awareness of animal abuse and make our officials aware and take action, we may be able to prevent violence in the future.