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Politics & Government

Legislating a Link Between Child And Animal Abuse

Bill Mandates Cross-Reporting Of Abuse To Most Vulnerable In Household

Citing a link between child abuse and animal cruelty, legislators are pushing for a bill that would mandate cross reporting of the two. 

HB 6226 would mandate animal control officers report suspected animal neglect or cruelty to the Department of Children and Families, DCF, within 48 hours. DCF would then cross-check all addresses it gets in Commissioner of Agriculture’s monthly report of animal abuse against its own list of addresses with open investigations. Doing this could save lives, some legislators believe.

“When animals have been removed from the home–we’re looking at that level of cruelty,” said state Rep. Diana Urban, who sponsored the bill and represents Stonington and North Stonington in the 43rd House District. “It is a known link between animal cruelty and future violent behavior.” 

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“I’m not surprised by the link between the two.  And when I heard of this I thought ‘why didn’t we think of this before,’” said state Rep. Terrie Wood a Republican who represents Norwalk in the 141stHouse District. “Abusers are angry and they don’t discriminate between animals and people.” 

According to a 1998 study that examined more than 1,600 cases of animal abuse, 21 percent of cases of intentional animal cruelty also involved some sort of family violence. Of those cases, 13 percent involved domestic violence. 

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Moreover, 71 percent of pet-owning women seeking shelter said their partner had threatened hurt or killed an animal, and 32 percent said their children had hurt or killed animals. 

“We live in an increasingly violent society and (HB6226) will hopefully interrupt that circle of violence,” Urban said. Urban herself cares for three dogs, a retired racehorse and mini-donkey, all of which she got from rescue shelters. 

“The American Humane Association has published a considerable amount of information documenting the correlation between animal abuse, family violence and other forms of community violence,” said DCF Commissioner Joette Katz in recent testimony. “We do endorse adding animal control officers as mandated reporters of child abuse or neglect.” 

Therein lies the rub for some legislators. 

State Rep. John Shaban, a Republican who represents Weston, Easton, and Redding in the 135thHouse District opposes the bill. 

“It rings of well intentioned but needless legislation,” Shaban said. “It creates false moral equivalents. You shouldn’t be mean to animals. You shouldn’t be mean to kids. But one is worse than the other.” 

Another problem for Shaban is the bill currently proposes to have animal control officers responsible for reporting to DCF. As well intentioned or as nice as they may be, they aren’t trained in law enforcement, Shaban said. 

“They’re fine folks, but to let them create a hit on a DCF list if you leave your dog in the car on a hot day? Something like that could affect your rights regarding your kids. That’s insane,” Shaban said. 

Wood said he makes a fair point. However, she said the evidence is too strong to ignore. 

Urban said that if the bill were to pass, incidents of animal abuse will not trigger an investigation but hopes to expand the bill and send it in that direction in the future. 

Also Wood, who sits on the Select Committee on Children and works with a Domestic Violence Task Force, said those concerns can easily be addressed with proper legislative language. 

“The way I understood it is someone who commits animal cruelty would be flagged because the link is so strong,” said state Rep. Kim Fawcett a Democrat who represents Fairfield in the 133rd House District. 

Local legislators who voted in favor of the bill include, state Sen. Andrew Maynard, a democrat who represents Groton and Stonington in the 18th Senatorial District, state Rep. Kevin Ryan, a democrat who represents Montville in the 139th House District and state Rep. Elissa Wright, a democrat who represents Groton in the 41st House District. State Sen. Edith Prague, D-19th, also supports the bill.

State Rep. Ted Moukawsher, a democrat who represents Groton and New London in the 40thHouse District opposed the bill. 

“Animal abuse is often discovered earlier than domestic abuse because it so often occurs in plain view,” said Annie Chittenden, Program Manager of the CT Safe Pet Project. 

Emily Todd and Lexi Brown of the Center for Youth Leadership, at Norwalk’s Brien McMahon High School recently told the Select Committee on Children why they too support the bill.

“We cannot begin to tell you how many times we have heard 5-6-7 year-old children talk about how their abusive parent kicks, punches, and slaps the family pet just as he kicks, punches, and slaps mommy,” they said in written testimony. “The number of drawings we’ve seen that show a child hurting an animal because “…it seems like fun” or because “…I saw my daddy do it…” 

“These kids who are being abused are going to cost us,” said Urban of the costs of correctional and rehabilitative measures for victims of abuse who fall into a cycle of abusing others.

There is no fiscal note attached to the bill. And in this budget climate that’s not a small thing. It means that there is no cost to the state or to municipalities for implementing the bill should it eventually pass. 

Yet, some legislators, Shaban included, are skeptical.  Because although DCF said it could absorb the cross reporting into its existing reporting framework, Shaban said he’s concerned animal control officers will require training, and that costs money.

Urban said she hopes that animal control officers will take advantage of a course offered by the Department of Children and Families that is aimed to help people detect child abuse and neglect. 

“We’re not asking them to do that in the bill,” she said. “We’re hoping they’ll chose to.”

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