Animal Cruelty Prosecution Animal Cruelty Prosecution

A NIMAL C RUELTY P R OSECUTION
and cooperation of the organization. Most animal organizations lack the
resources to supervise community service workers in their facilities and
are legitimately concerned about exposing animals to such offenders.
Evaluation and Counseling
As outlined in Figure 4, about half of the states address provisions for psychological
evaluation and counseling in their animal cruelty laws. Usually
this is to be undertaken at the offender’s expense. Even when not specifically
mandated, such evaluation is usually an appropriate consideration.
Since animal abuse and neglect takes many different forms, with a variety
of different underlying motives and processes, no “one size fits all” program
is appropriate for all offenders. However, there are standardized
approaches for dealing with many types of offenders, including the
Anicare® models listed in the Appendix, which may be appropriate in
some cases. In addition, a growing number of mental health care
providers have received training on the psychology of animal abuse and
neglect and could be resources for such assessments and treatment.
Other more standardized programs may be appropriate in some instances.
Mandated batterer intervention programs may be appropriate for animal
cruelty that has occurred in the context of domestic violence.Younger
offenders whose behavior might stem from exposure to other family violence
can benefit from family therapy. Substance abuse treatment is
appropriate for animal cruelty cases that involve drugs or alcohol.
42 A MERICAN P R OSECUTORS R ESEARCH I NSTITUTE