Animal cruelty by children exposed to domestic violence.

OBJECTIVE The first objective of this study was to determine if children exposed to domestic violence were significantly more likely to be cruel to animals than children not exposed to violence. The second was to determine if there were significant age and gender differences between children who were and were not cruel to animals. METHOD A community sample of 47 mothers with two children and a history of domestic violence were compared to a matched sample of 45 mothers with two children who did not have such a history. RESULTS Children exposed to domestic violence were significantly more likely to have been cruel to animals than children not exposed to violence. The age and gender of children who were cruel to animals did not differ from children who were not cruel to animals. However, exposed children cruel to animals were significantly older than non-exposed children cruel to animals. CONCLUSION Animal cruelty by children is correlated with exposure to domestic violence.