Veterinarians have a role in today’s society as “the other doctor” and, not unlike the physicians’ historical process that occurred with child abuse, the veterinarian’s role in animal abuse is changing. Although this is not the time to belabor the ongoing changes and official positions of the veterinary governing organizations, perhaps it is the time to start - even in a small way - to encourage veterinarians to participate in the solutions.
The People and Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) of Central Ohio convened the Task Force on Interpersonal Violence & Animal Cruelty in 2006. A goal of the Task Force is to enhance multi-disciplinary communication and education as it relates to animal cruelty and family violence. To that end, we have begun a series of educational programs for law enforcement; social service workers, veterinarians, prosecutors, community advocates, animal humane enforcement officers and other identified primary responders.
We are in the process of producing a brochure and poster campaign to be disseminated to veterinarians. The material contained in the brochure provides a list of local resources and identifying information that requires no additional effort on the part of the veterinarian or their staff. We also hope to offer training for veterinarians and their support staff to become more aware of the issues surrounding domestic violence.
Many people are not aware that the majority of domestic violence cases filed in the State of Ohio are misdemeanor charges. This means the punishment cannot exceed six months in jail and/or a fine of $1,000. The statute does allow for the charge of domestic violence to be filed as a felony if there is a prior conviction, however, the decision to file as a felony rests completely at the discretion of the County Prosecutor.
Along legislative lines, another goal of the Task Force is to recommend potential changes to state and local animal cruelty statutes. Collaboration between city and county prosecutors, Capital Area Humane Society and Franklin County Animal Shelter personnel together with local area veterinarians, resulted in suggested amendments to the current Columbus City Code as it pertains to the animal cruelty statute. These recommendations, which include strengthening the enhanced penalty section, have been presented to community area commissions and forwarded to Columbus city officials for comments.
Although the link between cruelty to animals and human violence has been well established, historically, violence to animals has been viewed as an issue separate from other forms of family violence. In Franklin County we are fortunate to have an Environmental Court under whose jurisdiction cases involving animal cruelty and domestic violence are handled concurrently. The significant benefit to this can be realized in knowing that Franklin County Municipal Court is believed to be the busiest trial court in Ohio and one of the ten busiest in the country.
We are also extremely fortunate that Columbus City Attorney, Richard Pfeiffer, Jr. supports a team of prosecutors in the City Prosecutors Office dedicated to domestic violence prosecution. Effective prosecution of these often-difficult cases requires the expertise of tried and true trial attorneys. The domestic violence prosecutors and the environmental prosecutor work closely together to identify cases in which animal abuse is found in tandem with family violence. This is important in helping tightening the loopholes that domestic violence perpetrators so often attempt to slip through.
These prosecutors also are extremely aggressive in pursuing convictions with or without the support of the victim of domestic violence. They recognize that safety for the victim (animal and/or human) may override or prevent the victim from assisting in prosecution.
Enforcing the law however requires more than good prosecutors and a judiciary educated on the human-animal connection and family violence. It also requires evidence. Not unlike the need for forensic evidence in cases of human violence, veterinary forensic medicine and case documentation are necessary to support evidence collection in animal cruelty cases.
Accurate recording of the veterinarian’s perceptions is extremely important. Histories that are incongruent with physical exam findings, injuries that appear unusual, or a history of repeated unexplained injuries or deaths should arouse questions from the veterinarian. Even if the veterinarian is uncomfortable approaching the client about these concerns, documenting their suspicions may be crucial to the investigation and potential success of prosecution.