April 2009

Dear Friend,

Frank Ascione Named to New Position

Frank R. Ascione, Ph.D., a pioneering leader in Link work, has been named professor and American Humane Endowed Chair and executive director of the Institute for Human-Animal Connection in the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver. Ascione will leave his professorship at Utah State University this summer and will assume his new role on Sept. 1, 2009. The position is unique in human-animal bond academia and is believed to be the only one of its kind based in a school of social work.

Veterinarians and The Link

An ongoing Link issue is the responsibility of veterinarians to recognize and report suspected animal abuse, and/or other forms of family violence, to appropriate authorities. Although many states grant practitioners immunity from civil or criminal liability for such reports, and organizational position statements clearly waive confidentiality restrictions regarding such reporting, many veterinarians have not received forensics training on identifying suspected cruelty or practice-management guidelines concerning how to proceed if abuse is suspected.

The latest review of this issue, by Bonnie Yoffe-Sharp and Lynn Loar, encourages veterinarians to make family-based risk assessments of the owners’ capabilities and abilities to cope with pets’ demands. “A veterinarian’s question about an animal’s safety and welfare and surrounding domestic violence is more likely to elicit an honest answer than a similar question posed by a police officer or emergency-room physician,” state the authors in the March 15, 2009, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

“In the interests of protecting an animal currently receiving treatment, and preventing the dangerous or negligent owner from harming other animals, his or her children, spouse, aging parents, and the community at large, we strongly believe that veterinarians should report animal abuse and neglect to their local animal control agency and encourage investigation and prosecution of these cases.”

Yoffe-Sharp and Loar dismiss the claim that reporting suspected abuse would cause practitioners to lose business. This would only be true, they argue, if the majority of the veterinarian’s clients were abusive. Most clients are conscientious and would applaud such a professional stance, they write.

Collaborative responses involving veterinarians, child and adult protective services, humane and animal control officials, and law enforcement are essential to ensure appropriate and comprehensive protective measures and services. “By training and expertise, veterinarians are on a par with other mandated [health] professionals,” conclude Yoffe-Sharp and Loar. “They should forthrightly join the health-care team by accepting this responsibility.”
-- Yoffe-Sharp, B.L., & Loar, L.M. (2009). The veterinarian's responsibility to recognize and report animal abuse. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 234(6), 732-737.

The Link In The News

NBC’s Today show presented a four-minute feature on March 27, 2009, about American Humane’s Pets and Women’s Shelters (PAWS)™ Program to build on-site housing for the animal victims of domestic violence. American Humane’s Allie Phillips, who pioneered the PAWS concept, was interviewed. The program generated phone calls and emails from domestic-violence shelters interested in PAWS and people interested in implementing a PAWS Program in their community. There are about 12 PAWS programs currently operating with five more in progress, and recent inquiries have come from domestic-violence programs in Los Angeles; San Antonio; Birmingham, Ala.; St. Cloud, Minn.; Whiteville, N.C.; and Frankfort, Ky.

Minnesota’s pet protection order bill, along with a Bloomington, Minn., veterinarian who has donated $70,000 in care to help the animal victims of domestic violence, were featured in a column by Jon Tevlin in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on April 8, 2009. Dr. Kate Knutson of the Pet Crossing Animal Hospital has been assisting women and their pets since 2008. “For a lot of people, animals are the only constant in their lives. They are proof that there can be goodness and unconditional love, proof that tomorrow will be a better day,” she told Tevlin.

A violent dispute between a Staten Island, N.Y., woman and her boyfriend culminated in the man’s allegedly beating her dog and trying to throw the animal from a sixth-story apartment window. Police charged Joshua Burgos, 20, with animal cruelty and criminal mischief when Nena, a 1-year-old pit-bull mix, was savagely kicked in the face during an altercation in which cell phones and clothing were thrown out of the window. When Nena’s owner went downstairs to retrieve the items, Burgos allegedly hung the dog off the roof. Nena then apparently bit Burgos, which may have saved the dog’s life, according to an article in the Staten Island Advance.

In another recent New York City case, investigators from The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) arrested a Manhattan man, Richard Smith, 24, and charged him with aggravated animal cruelty and assault related to a domestic-abuse incident. Smith allegedly assaulted his 21-year-old girlfriend and severely beat Michigan, a 2-year-old Shiba Inu belonging to the girlfriend’s sister. Multiple attacks on the dog had allegedly occurred over the past few months. ASPCA veterinarians determined that Michigan had sustained 12 fractured ribs.

Pet Protection Order Bills in State Legislatures

Eleven state legislatures are considering bills this session that would allow judges to issue orders to protect animals from the perpetrators of domestic violence. As of this writing, the following bills are still under consideration: Arizona (SB 1278), Delaware (HB 77), Iowa (HF 32 and SF 70), Massachusetts (HB 1319 and HB 1499), Minnesota (HF 1396 and SF 838), New Jersey (AB 1419), North Carolina (SB 1062), Ohio (HB 55), South Carolina (HB 3117), Texas (HB 853 and SB 1840) and Washington (HB 1148).

In Georgia, HB 429 was withdrawn in early April. Wyoming’s HB 206, Maryland’s HB 901 and New Mexico’s HB 434 did not get a vote before the legislative sessions adjourned. Although Hawaii's SB 1086 passed the Senate and the session is still ongoing until May 1, 2009, it unfortunately did not get a chance to pass the House Judiciary Committee by the date all bills must move out of committees (April 9, 2009). American Humane is hopeful that these bills will be reintroduced in 2010.

To follow the progress of these and other Link-related bills, you can use American Humane’s legislative tracking tool.

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