Section-Related Research

A national study of animal cruelty perpetrators.

The study will seek to clarify demographic and relational factors involved in violence toward animals. Importantly, we will rely on official records as sources of animal abuse and criminality documentation rather than self-reports. We will examine individuals’ entire criminal histories to ascertain links between abuse and both violent and nonviolent criminality. This will be the first national study of perpetrators of animal cruelty and the first examination of demographic differences between such offenders.

For more information, contact:  Lacey Levitt at lll9g@virginia.edu