A Comparison of Maltreated Children and Non-Maltreated Children on Their Experiences with Animals - A Japanese Study

The Boat Inventory on Animal Related Experience (BIARE) questionnaire was used to survey two groups of children including one group of institutionalized, maltreated children and one group of children at an elementary school. The results of this study found that, compared with the elementary school group, the maltreated group engaged in more activities with animals and was more likely to use animals as a source of support. In addition, the maltreated children were more likely to report witnessing incidents of animal abuse compared with the elementary group.