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Physical Cruelty of Companion Animals 43 The Prevalence of Cruelty to Companion Animals Estimating the prevalence of cruelty to companion animals brings similar challenges Researchers have assessed its prevalence through four sources of data, and each yields varying estimates Some studies have examined reported and prosecuted cruelty cases Vermeulen and Odendaal (1993) analysed the records of four Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCAs) in the Pretoria-Witwatersrand area of South Africa between March 1991 and February 1992 The authors found 1,863 reported cases of abuse and neglect towards any type of animal, including but not limited to companion animals Investigators documented mistreatment in just over 25 % of the total reported cases, with only 3.4 % of abusers charged The majority of cases involved issues related to husbandry or lack of medical care An analysis of cases reported to the Massachusetts SPCA between 1975 and 1996 yielded similar results (Arluke and Luke 1997) Among 80,000 complaints of abuse and neglect, only 268 of these resulted in prosecution specifically for cruelty, amounting to only 0.3 % of all those investigated during the period studied Courts found fewer than half of those prosecuted to be guilty Another study randomly selected 200 of the 4,942 complaints of mistreatment made to the same SPCA in 1996 (Donley et al 1999) Only 22 cases involved deliberate abuse, where the abuser intentionally sought to cause suffering or death Of these, investigators found violations in only four cases, or 0.08 % of those studied, and just one case resulted in prosecution These low reported and prosecution estimates reveal more about the criminal justice system than about the prevalence of cruelty As humane law enforcement agents attest, well-intentioned citizens often report animal welfare offenses where nothing prosecutable exists or there is insufficient evidence to pursue prosecution (Arluke 2004) This may change now that all 50 states have enacted a felony provision for animal cruelty; previously, criminal justice professionals, including police, district attorneys and judges, did not appear to consider animal abuse a serious or common crime (Arluke and Luke 1997; Vollum et al 2004) Until 2015, the Federal Bureau of Investigation classified animal cruelty under ‘other’ crimes, among less serious offences including trespassing From 2016, however, the US national Uniform Crime Reporting Program will list and track it as a distinct offence Although this will provide more accurate information on animal cruelty, including its prevalence, low prosecution rates can persist if judges focus on cases they consider ‘more important’ (Arluke 2006, p 1) The criminal justice system must address many serious human issues—such as homicide—that
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