Who abuses animals?
Most animal abusers are adolescent or young-adult males, although children as young as four have been known to harm animals. Many animal abusers have a history of other antisocial or criminal activities, including vandalism, assault, and arson, and many are the victims of physical or sexual abuse. Animal cruelty is often associated with children who do poorly in school and have low self esteem and few friends. *Why would anyone abuse an animal? There can be many reasons. Animal cruelty, like any other form of violence, is often committed by a person who feels powerless, unnoticed, and under the control of others. The motive may be to shock, threaten, intimidate, or offend others or to demonstrate rejection of society’s rules. Some who are cruel to animals copy things seen or that have been done to them. Others see harming an animal as a safe way to get revenge on someone who cares about that animal. In some extremely serious cases, animal abuse is associated with deviant arousal. * As
