Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Criminal Justice

Advisor

Greg D. Koehle

Abstract

The research on animal abuse has grown over the years which has led to studies that determine the psychological implications of animal cruelty in relation to various societal and environmental agents. From these studies, researchers have addressed animal abuse and cruelty in general but have not established the cause of the behavior or reasons why people abuse animals. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the reasons motivating human beings to abuse animals. Using the qualitative method, this study used snowball sampling to interview a total of 10 professionals who work in the fields of veterinary medicine (veterinarians and veterinarian technicians) and who work in law enforcement and have investigated cases of animal abuse. The interview responses were recorded and analyzed qualitatively. The results of this analysis indicated that people abuse animals mostly due to lack of animal welfare awareness as well as due to the connection that exists between animal abuse and human violence. Animal rights and welfare organizations may benefit from the results of this study leading to positive social change through identifying how to break the connection that exits between human violence and animal abuse and how to spread animal welfare to cover a wider group of people. Furthermore, these organizations can collaboratively work with law enforcement agencies to detect and prevent animal abuse and cruelty at large.

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