Naturewatch Foundation
Naturewatch Foundation - Advancing Animal Welfare
Urgent memo to our politicians, police officers and prosecutors.
During the training that I conduct for police officers, many ask me how they can add animal crimes to everything else a cop already does. That isn’t how effective crime prevention works. We know those who harm animals also harm people and, if we apply that knowledge to safeguarding strategies, we can reduce overall violent crime, freeing up policing resource. We can literally make time.
Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher said 2500 years ago, “For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other”.
He knew about the ‘link’.
So did William Hogarth, the British animal campaigner and artist who, through his engravings in 1751, showed the people of London the transition of a boy who perpetrated animal cruelty to a man who committed domestic homicide.
The ‘Hogarth Award’ 2024
Tragically, there were 242 deaths related to domestic abuse last year in the UK (1), and this crime cost the country approximately £26 billion a year. Yet, the training of police officers on the link between animal and domestic abuse is still not mandatory. We will, of course, be asking whoever our next Government is to change that.
In the meantime, we must work with each police force separately to show them an opportunity to help both animals and people. This mission was at the core of our first year of taking the “Protect Animals. Protect People.’ campaign to England and Wales.
The Metropolitan Police Domestic Abuse Team have been incredibly supportive of our work and has updated policies and training across London to ensure that animal cruelty offences are charged alongside domestic abuse crimes where both are present during the commission of an offence. Officers are taught how pets can be part of coercive control and where they can find information about who can help the animal victims of domestic abuse.
It was a huge honour, therefore, to present this dynamic team with our ‘Hogarth Award’ this year during one of the now regular visits to Scotland Yard, perhaps the most iconic police building in the world. We also presented about our campaign at the Parks Police Headquarters in Hyde Park!
When we looked at 44 police websites of England and Wales, most simply directed the human victims of domestic abuse where their pet had been threatened, hurt or killed, towards animal charities. Incredibly, some offered no help at all.
We wanted to change that.
A major step forward
We set about finding routes to make sure the advice police forces offered was helpful, that it recognised the seriousness of the ‘link’, and signposted places where animals could be safely taken.
We are, therefore, extremely proud that 93% of websites across the country now offer the right information. We just have four more police forces to go.
This was a major result for our campaign.
Coercive control and pets
Coercive control is behaviour within domestic abuse that is most likely to lead to homicide. Animal abuse is often used as a strategy to coerce and control victim-survivors:
- Animal abuse occurs in approximately half of all households affected by domestic violence where animals are present within families (2).
- In one US study, 71% of domestic violence victims reported that their perpetrator(s) was abusing their pets as well (3).
- Women in domestic violence shelters are 11 times more likely to report animal abuse by their partner than women not experiencing violence (4).
Victim-survivors experience an average of 50 incidents of abuse before getting effective help (2). However, individuals and families will often delay fleeing a violent situation due to concerns about the safety of their companion animal. One study reported that 35% of women delayed seeking refuge for this reason (3). Another found that 42% delayed leaving, 37% stayed, and 15% returned to an abusive relationship due to concerns about an animals’ welfare (4).
Coercive control disproportionately affects women and girls. For instance, one in four women in England and Wales between the ages of 16 and 74 have experienced domestic abuse. Tackling animal abuse should form part of any strategy to tackle domestic abuse. Animal abuse awareness throughout the criminal justice system can aid with prevention and detection of other violent offending too.
When we use all the studies and knowledge to protect animals, we can protect people too.
This is what we called our England and Wales-based campaign when we launched on 7th June 2023.
But we didn’t start here
In 2015, I was fortunate to make a first presentation on the connection between wildlife crime and terrorism in Greece that led to the launch of police training there. When I joined the Naturewatch Foundation project in Ukraine, this subject formed the basis of our programme there and it is really pleasing to see it continue even during war times. Over recent years, we have been invited to speak at various events around the world and, in June 2022, to the European Parliament. It’s encouraging, therefore, to note that their latest guidance on tackling domestic abuse includes advice on how animals can be involved(5).
In May, we were approached to speak in Athens at the Zero Stray Pawject conference for judges and prosecutors across Greece, alongside senior lawyers from the United States. We also had the opportunity to meet with the Minister and Chief of Police to discuss ongoing operations.
My Greece presentation is available to read.
Our message
It is so important that our message is heard and, in the first year of this campaign, we have featured on ITN News and in the Sunday Express. We also regularly take part in podcasts around the world.
On 4th July, we have an opportunity perhaps to reach politicians to ask them what they are going to do for animals affected by domestic abuse.
We want them to ensure that police training is mandatory. As supporters, maybe you can help us with that too, please?
We have already written to all 43 Police and Crime Commissioners and, when you speak to your prospective MP, ask them about animals. Politicians can protect them, and people, at ZERO cost. They could even save money too, and most politicians like that idea.
Coercive control. Ask about animals.
That’s what crime prevention is truly about.
You can read more about our work on our Protect Animals. Protect People campaign pages.
Footnotes:
- National Police Chiefs’ Council -13 Mar 2024 – Scale of homicide and suicides by domestic abuse victims revealed
- Safelives Insights IDVA National Dataset 2019-2020
- Fawcett NR, Gullone E, Johnson J (2002)
- Mary Wakeham, June 2021 – Animal Abuse as a Strategy of Coercive Control
- European Parliament report 2023 – The proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating violence against women and domestic violence
The post Supporting police training on the link between animal crime and domestic violence. first appeared on Naturewatch Foundation and is written by Morwenna.