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Animal abuse & the link to family violence - advice for practitioners
On average, every 30 seconds someone in England and Wales dials the RSPCA’s 24-hour cruelty line for help. 143,004 animal cruelty complaints were investigated in 2015 alone.
To raise awareness and help people understand the facts of animal abuse, Virtual College have created a free resource pack.
Virtual College worked with The Links Group to create a free online course designed to help frontline staff spot animal abuse and understand the link between violence to people and violence to animals. Register for the free training.
The course has been designed to help frontline staff understand the link between family abuse and animal abuse, and is aimed at all professionals who have a responsibility to safeguard vulnerable children, young people and adults at risk.
Co-author of the course, Vicki Betton, works for veterinary charity PDSA and is an officer of The Links Group.
She says, “The veterinary profession is now familiar with the concept of the ‘battered pet’, and recognises that there are sometimes interrelationships commonly known as ‘links’.
“This course uses our animal welfare expertise to help human healthcare colleagues to recognise potential concerns about pets in the homes they visit, even if the pet is not being directly harmed.
“By undertaking the course, human healthcare professionals will have a better understanding of animal wellbeing and will know where to seek advice if they suspect there is an issue.”
The course is particularly appropriate to child protection services, health professionals, police officers, teachers and education experts, children’s social care, adult social care and housing authorities.
The course has been written to provide a basic understanding of what animal abuse is, how to spot the signs, as well as to understand the recognised link between family abuse and animal abuse, and understand what to do if you have suspicions of abuse.
Prevention
Animal control protection officers, social care workers and anyone working with children or animals must consider that all cases of abuse have the potential to be connected to other forms of violence or dysfunction in the home. In the majority of cases, these types of professionals will be the first responders and first point of contact for a person, animal or family in need of help.
In order to prevent animals and children from being harmed, awareness surrounding these links must be built. This includes encouraging communities and members of the public to take action by giving greater importance to suspected animal abuse, with the knowledge that they could be preventing other forms of violence.
The NSPCC have produced a useful leaflet ‘Understanding the Links‘ which can be found at www.nspcc.org.uk