204 A Nurse other less powerful members of a family or a community Calvo (2008, pp 32–33) identifies that human–animal relations are dominated by ‘relations of human dominion that involve their exploitation and oppression’ Thus animal lives are largely subservient to human conceptions of animals as potential food or as exploitable resource for clothing, labour or entertainment (see the chapters on this in this volume) The cruelty inflicted on animals, whether physical or psychological, often illustrates stereotypical male behaviour such as the exercise of control through physical force, intimidation and coercion employed in other areas such as domestic abuse, spousal control or the disciplining of children (Arkow 1996; Browne 1993) Many animal crimes (such as trophy hunting and illegal taking of wildlife) also involve recognised male behaviours such as aggression, thrill-seeking or the exercise of an adventurous nature (Nurse 2011) Recklessness, thrill-seeking and assertiveness are also applicable to animal abuse activities which are sometimes committed in difficult and dangerous conditions, with a requirement to negotiate aggressive animals, and evade the attentions of law enforcement, NGOs and conservation and game management staff Sport and trophy hunting linked to the collection of animal trophies, such as antlers, tusks and skins, is inextricably linked to power and masculinities within a deviant recreational culture Such hunting enthusiasts are predominantly male and tend to target larger nonhuman animal males for shooting (Palazy et al 2012; Short and Balaban 1994) thus overtly exercising masculine power over less powerful males; those animals selected for hunting purposes This chapter examines collecting as a form of animal abuse, examining the collection of both live and dead non-human animal specimens, and non-human animal parts and derivatives as forms of animal abuse Some collecting activities are difficult to quantify due to their covert nature and the lack of any official monitoring Egg collecting, for example, is an underground activity that encompasses a range of unlawful activities in the taking and possession of eggs (see Case Study later in this chapter) But no formal market exists for wild birds’ eggs (Nurse 2013a) and its basis in collecting for personal possession contributes to the difficulties in assessing its prevalence although Table identifies recent reported levels of offending in the UK However, activities like trophy hunting form part of a legitimised industry worth considerable sums to some African countries (Lindsey et al 2012; Palazy et al 2012; Baker 1997) Thus, collecting linked to sporting activity is widespread in some states and is discussed later in this chapter (see Case Study 2) Anthropocentric notions of animals as human ‘property’ and available primarily for human exploitation, are central to animal collecting Unhealthy or