Lock ‘em up and Throw Away the Key? Community Opinions Regarding Current Animal Abuse Penalties

Over two-thirds of the sample indicated that they thought it very or extremely important for the criminal justice system to take this type of crime seriously. The majority of people also indicated their belief that the current penalties for deliberate animal abuse are not strong enough.

Variables that affected these responses included the status of the abused animal, i.e., whether respondents deemed them to be members of the family or not, whether respondents considered the animal in question to be a ‘pet’ or a ‘pest,’ gender, occupation and income of respondent. Following a discussion of the need for the criminal justice system to respond more harshly to animal abuse, the authors conclude that the public would be in favor of such a move.