How We Can Work Together

• Animal abuse investigators are part of the helping professional community.
  Because animal abuse investigators provide services to meet the physical, emotional, and social needs of the community, they are by definition a helping profession. Many helping professions are mandatory reporters of child abuse and in some areas, such as San Diego, social workers are mandated reporters of animal abuse as well. Earlier and shared intervention can be critical in the prevention of domestic violence as well as animal abuse.
   
• Animal abuse investigators are trained in documentation procedures.
  Already trained in the process of documentation, investigators need only ask a few more questions to assess for domestic violence during their investigations. This documentation can help convict batterers in a court of law.
   
• Animal abuse investigators can assess both human and animal abuse.
  Animal abuse investigators have extensive training in the areas of animal behavior and explanations for various animal injuries. This foundation can help investigators identify human abuse. For example, an animal that is afraid of someone acts in much the same was as a fearful child does – they may cringe and cower as the abuser approaches them. Many of the indicators of animal abuse apply to human victims of abuse as well. Additionally, investigators may have a unique opportunity to speak with domestic violence victims during a home investigation, allowing them to observe suspicious behavior, physical injuries, neglectful conditions, and other abuse indicators.
   
• Animal abuse investigators are in a position to break the cycle of violence to humans by reporting it to the proper authorities.
  Because domestic violence often begins with animal abuse, investigators may be able to prevent escalation by detecting and reporting the abuse to the proper authorities. In this way, the cycle of violence may be interrupted and even halted altogether.
   
• All animal abuse investigators WILL encounter incidences of human abuse at some point.
  Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women seen at hospital emergency rooms, more common than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. It is estimated that as many as 68% of the victims have pets in their homes, and it has been documented that where there is human abuse, animal abuse is likely to occur. Therefore, when investigating animal abuse, the detection of domestic violence or child abuse is a strong probability.