A study of 111 battered women who sought shelter in South Carolina, published in the February 2000 Violence Against Women, found that of those women with companion animals, almost half reported their current or former male partners had threatened or abused the animals. And a 1997 study of the largest battered women's shelters in 48 states revealed that workers at 85 percent of those shelters had heard reports from women about incidents of animal abuse. The shelter workers estimated that such abuse takes place in more than 40 percent of the domestic violence cases reported to their shelters. The main reason for animal abuse within a domestic relationship is control. Threatening, harming, and killing companion animals can powerfully demonstrate someone's power over a partner or child.
Abusers also harm animals to punish their partners for leaving, or trying to.
After receiving the photo from her mother, the man's wife told the shelter counselor she had to go home to save the lives of her dog and other animals. Primarily, because animals make easy targets. It has taken U.S. society many years to move toward viewing violence against women and children as criminal and warranting punishment, instead of as a private family issue, or as appropriate punishment for some misdeed, real or imagined. Sadly, society does not yet fully recognize animal abuse as a serious crime. Most states classify animal cruelty as a misdemeanor, and in many cases, animal abuse goes unprosecuted.