Animal abusers also dangerous to humans

A posting to a popular news website shows a series of grisly photographs of a woman in China picking up a puppy off a sidewalk and roasting it alive.

This is what Wikipedia has to say on such displays of active cruelty to animals: “One of the known warning signs of certain psychopathologies … is a history of torturing pets and small animals…. According to the New York Times, ‘The FBI has found that a history of cruelty to animals is one of the traits that regularly appears in its computer records of (people with lethal criminal behavior), and the standard diagnostic and treatment manual for psychiatric and emotional disorders lists cruelty to animals a diagnostic criterion for conduct disorders.’” (“Aggression against Cats, Dogs, and People,” Felthous, Alan R., 1998)

In his book “Cruelty to Animals and Interpersonal Violence,” Frank Ascione noted that “A survey of psychiatric patients who had repeatedly tortured dogs and cats found all of them had high levels of aggression toward people as well, including one patient who (committed a serious violent crime against a young boy).

“Cruelty to animals is one of the three components of the Macdonald triad, indicators of violent antisocial behavior in children and adolescents. According to the studies used to form this model, cruelty to animals is a common, but not universal, behavior in children and adolescents (who can) grow up (to become… adults who commit serial crimes).”

If the above is true, then individuals such as the woman mentioned earlier who subjects animals to cruel treatment, and including those who pay for “crush videos” where puppies are crushed beneath the feet of young women, should not merely be fined or incarcerated. They should first be subjected to intense psychological testing and analyses to make sure there are no hidden telltale histories of active cruelty to animals and to rule out any concealed or unnoticed tendencies toward deadly anti-social behavior. It becomes utterly necessary to establish that these individuals are normal enough so there is no possibility people they come in contact with in their work, family life and daily activities in the future will become victims of violence.

—BENJAMIN B. AGUNOD,

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