How children are raised shapes their values and behaviors. They learn from adult role models and the society they live in. A home of violence, abuse, or neglect produces children who may pass these behaviors on to the next generation, and so on.

Animals, especially pets, get caught up in this cycle of family violence. In most cases, the animal is the last victim in a chain of abuse that filters down from the strongest family member to the weakest. In order to understand an individual act of violence, the entire family and life history of all participants must be considered.

Evidence is mounting that violent acts are not separate and distinct events, but are part of a cycle. These findings should alert parents, societal leaders, prosecutors, and judges to the occurrence of animal cruelty as a  potential indication of disturbed family relationships and future antisocial aggressive behavior towards humans.

Recognizing the link between animal cruelty and other violent acts may be our first line of defense in breaking the cycle of violence in our community.

Researchers Alan Felthouse and Stephen Kellert found that a child who learns aggression against animals is more likely to rape, abuse, and kill other humans as an adult. Thus, it is reported that the nation's most violent criminals exhibited excessive cruelty towards animals.

• The New York Times, 1991: Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed 17 men and sawed their bodies into pieces, reportedly impaled frogs and staked cats to trees in his backyard.
• The Washington Post, 1977: Mass murderer David Berkowitz, New York City's "Son of Sam", was depicted by the press as hating dogs and having killed a number of neighborhood animals in his youth.
• The Press Democrat, 1998: In Pearl, Mass., a neighbor of accused killer Luke Woodham testified that he watched the 16-year old and an alleged conspirator in the killings, Grant Boyett, 18, chase the family dog and bludgeon the animal to death.
• American Humane Association, 1998: In a study of 57 families being treated for incidents of child abuse, 88% also abused animals. In two-thirds of the cases, it was the abusive parent who had killed or injured the animals to control a child. In one-third, the children had abused the animals, using them as scapegoats for their anger.
• American Humane Association, 1998: In a study of 28 incarcerated sexual-homicide perpetrators (all men), researchers found that 36% had abused animals in their childhood and 46% in adolescence.
• American Humane Association, 1998: In a study using a sample of 64 men, 48% of convicted rapists and 30% of convicted child molesters admitted to cruelty to animals during their childhood or adolescence.