April is Child Abuse Prevention Month

Of course, we should all work towards preventing child abuse all year long, but April is the official month for doing so. As a mom, this issue hurts my heart. As a dog lover, I am fully aware of the links between cruelty to animals, including the canine set, and violence towards people, including the most vulnerable—children.

 

There are well-known links between violence towards animals, including torture and abuse and that same sort of violence towards children. Animal abuse can signal other dysfunctional and problematic behavior. As a predictor of future antisocial behavior, a person’s cruelty to animals often shows up at an earlier age than bullying, cruelty to people, vandalism, setting fires, or any other red flags useful for predicting future violent behavior. Additionally, in a household where children are abused, it is optimistic to the point of absurd to assume that pets are safe from the violence. Interestingly, the advocates in an early case of child abuse in this country included people whose life’s work was to protect animals from cruelty.

 

In the 1870s, the case of a badly abused girl in New York City named Mary Ellen set up a chain of events that led to the creation of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC). In 1877, this organization and several societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals from around the country joined forces and formed the American Human Association. Mary Ellen’s horrible suffering ignited world-wide efforts to protect children from abuse, and people involved in human treatment of animals were critical in the efforts to help Mary Ellen, and all other children in abusive situations.

 

In Mary Ellen’s case, she was in informal foster care of sorts after the death of her father and the ensuing poverty of her mother. Neighbors aware of the ill treatment of Mary Ellen by the woman of the household asked a mission worker named Etta Wheeler, who regularly checked on the poor residents of the building, to check on the child.

 

Etta Wheeler found a dirty, undernourished girl of about ten with numerous bruises and scars on her arms and legs, and a gash on her face. She was whipped daily as well as attacked with scissors and had suffered physical harm by numerous other methods. The state was not willing to intervene on the child’s behalf. Etta Wheeler continued to be an advocate for Mary Ellen, eventually seeking the help of Henry Bergh, a leader within the movement for humane treatment of animals in the United States who founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). Wheeler had a niece who implored her to contact Bergh, saying, “You are so troubled over that abused child, why not go to Mr. Bergh? She is a little animal surely.” This remark is likely the source of an untrue but widely told story that attorneys for Mary Ellen argued that she was protected from abuse as a member of the animal kingdom under the laws that protected animals from cruelty.

 

Bergh acted in the case as a citizen concerned about human treatment of children rather than in his official capacity as president of the NYSPCA. However, his prominent position and links to the legal system and the media were instrumental in the removal of Mary Ellen from her abusive home as well as in the development of an official system whose goal is protecting children from abuse.

 

After being removed from her abusive home, Mary Ellen was cared for by relatives of Etta Wheeler. She went on to marry and have children, one of whom she named Etta, and lived to the age of 92.

 

It matters how people treat animals, and just one of the many reasons is that when any cruelty or violence is permitted by society, other types are allowed to go undetected and unstopped. The sorts of societies that can tolerate abuse of animals are more likely to tolerate inhumane treatment of children, and people who care about the humane treatment of animals are often active in protecting children from cruelty as well.

 

The safety of abused individuals of any species often depends on just one person committed to caring and helping. Whenever people speak out to help others or step in to help just one individual, the snowball effects of their actions invariably lead to the cessation of additional cases of cruelty.

 

--Karen London

 

 

Comments

[pet insurance]

people also forget that pets in abusive households get hurt too

[Seamus Mulcahy]

Dear Karen London,

I've enjoyed reading your articles here and in BARK magazine. I'm in the middle of researching and studying dog separation anxiety for a company that I started two years ago with my uncle. You see I'm an actor in New York City and to make a long story short I thought wouldn't it be great if DVD could be made to help dogs with their separation anxiety, and wouldn't it be super if the DVD could also be enjoyed by the dogs owners once they return home. So I've created The Dog Film Company, and our first DVD called "Shakespaws" (yes dogs performing shakespeare scenes) It's an excellent way to spend quality time with your dog at home.

We're just about to release it, our website is being created as I write to you. I'd really like to send you a copy of our DVD and hear your thoughts about it.

Thanks for your time and hope to hear from you.
Yours
Seamus Mulcahy
Dublin (Boston Terrier)