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Your Car is a Potential Death Trap

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Image: Pixabay

Joey, Tess and Starla are only a few names on the lengthy list of innocent victims of heatstroke due to being left alone by their guardians in parked cars. The tragedy here lies in the truth that these beloved pets were simply casualties of poor judgment. People are grossly unaware of the detrimental effects that heat can have on their animals and it’s time to bring this ignorance to a grinding halt.

Reality

It’s unbelievably harder for dogs and cats to regulate their temperatures than humans when their only cooling mechanisms are panting and sweating via their little paw pads. Then people unfairly jeopardise their pets’ lives by leaving them in a baking hot car whilst they run off to do some menial chore.

Debunking the Misconceptions

  1. You’ll leave the window open a crac
    Multiple studies have shown that a partially open window will make insignificant difference to the average temperature inside the vehicle.
  2. You’ll only be gone five minutes
    Those intended “five minutes” can easily accumulate to an unexpected 20-minute expedition and every minute your fur-covered friend is trapped in that hot box, is deadlier than the last.
  3. It’s a cool day!
    See the study below proving that even on a mild day, pets can suffer at the hands of heatstroke:

Approximate Vehicle Interior Air Temperature vs Time Passed
Time Passed Outside Air Temperature
(Degrees Celsius)
  21 24 27 29 32 35
0 minutes 21 24 27 29 32 35
10 minutes 32 34 37 40 43 46
20 minutes 37 40 43 46 48 51
30 minutes 40 43 46 48 51 54
40 minutes 42 45 48 51 53 56
50 minutes 44 47 49 52 55 58
60 minutes 45 48 51 53 56 59
> 1 hour 46 49 52 54 57 60

Courtesy Jan Null, CCM; Department of Geosciences, San Francisco State University

Even on a cool day of 21 degrees, the interior temperature of a car can rise by almost 20 degrees in thirty minutes! Bring a dark coloured vehicle that amplifies the heat into the equation, and the rate increases even further.

  1. You’ll keep the aircon running
    What if the aircon fails whilst you’re away? The vents will continue working but they’ll be blowing warm air into the vehicle therefore exacerbating an already lethal situation. What if your pet moves around the car and accidently hits the AC switch, subsequently turning it off?
  2. You’ll leave them water
    Dogs and cats generally cool off by panting, so in a blistering hot vehicle this essential task is made overwhelmingly more strenuous and no amount of water is going to fend off heatstroke. 

The Consequences:

Parked cars are death traps for pets who can sustain brain damage and have a heart attack from heatstroke so you need to get them to a veterinary clinic as soon as possible.

The following are warning signs of heatstroke to look out for:

  • extreme panting
  • difficulty breathing
  • agitation
  • vomiting/bloody diarrhoea
  • fever
  • lethargy
  • collapsing
  • convulsing
  • crying for help
  • disorientation
  • dilated pupils
  • rapid heart rate
  • excessive thirst
  • dark tongue
  • lack of coordination
  • glazed eyes

Treatment:

If a pet falls victim to heatstroke:

  • Remove the pet from the vehicle and move them into a shaded area or an air-conditioned car or building (if you cannot transport the dog yourself, call the local animal rescue organisation).
  • Rush the pet to the vet immediately.

En route to the vet:

  • Lower their body temperature gradually by applying cool water or wet towels all over their body. Don’t try to cool them down instantly with iced water as this will jolt them into shock.
  • Place their paws in cool (never cold) water.
  • Allow the pet to drink some cool water or lick some ice.

If you see a pet in a hot car?

  1. Contact the nearest police or animal protection authorities.
  2. Specify the vehicle’s details and exact location.
  3. Quickly enter the building/s and ensure an announcement is made to alert the owner of the pet.

If help is unresponsive or takes too long, find people to bear witness to your judgement and do what is required to remove the distressed animal from the vehicle. Follow the treatment steps above and wait until authorities arrive. DO NOT LEAVE THE SCENE UNTIL THE ANIMAL IS SAFE!

Some places legally protect citizens who break into a car to save an animal’s life. In other places, only certain authorities are permitted to do so. Check your local laws so you know your rights if such a situation arises.

Don’t become another statistic: Be responsible by leaving your pets at home where they are comfortable and most importantly, safe. They’ll be waiting happily for you on your return.

FYI: Fur Your Infurmation

Even pets in their prime can be plagued by heatstroke, but the following are more prone to the risk:

  • Puppies or kittens
  • Senior pets
  • Overweight pets
  • Pets with pre-existing health issues
  • Shorter snouted breeds (Boxers, Boston Terriers, Bulldogs, Pugs, Pekinese and Shi Tzus, Persians and Himalayan cats) struggle more with the heat than pets with longer muzzles.

Written for inFURmation
by Taliah Williamson

Los Angeles to ban use of all wild animals in circuses

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Image: Pixabay

The city council of the nation’s second largest city – and the capital of the entertainment industry – today unanimously voted to ban the exhibition of wild or exotic animals for entertainment, including circuses, other wild animal shows, displays in public areas such as on sidewalks or parks, and rentals for house parties or events.

Los Angeles City Councilman David Ryu sponsored the measure, which won the support of all the council members, and HSUS National Council member Cheri Shankar and the Performing Animal Welfare Society led the external effort to pass it. This reform substantially builds on a 2014 policy banning the use of bullhooks to handle captive elephants that was instrumental in causing Ringling Bros. to no longer use elephants in their shows.

This is not the final step, but it sets the 15-member city council on a very clear path to enact this forward-looking policy in the weeks ahead.

Los Angeles was the site of an HSUS event this past Saturday night, with a roster of notables, including Pharrell Williams, Diane Keaton, James Caan, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, and a cadre of local and state elected officials in California. It was especially fitting and appropriate for the Los Angeles City Council to take action so quickly after this stirring event and to cement its place among America’s most humane cities.

Other cities that have passed similar bans in recent years include the city of San Francisco, and several counties in Idaho, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and North Carolina. But Los Angeles is by far the largest jurisdiction to enact such a ban.

Just a few years ago, Los Angeles banned the use of bullhooks for elephants, and there was a spirited fight. But with Ringling earlier this year announcing it was shutting down its entire circus –which featured lion and tiger acts, among other wild animals on exhibition – the circus industry lost its biggest political protector. Today lawmakers approved the ban with little dissent, demonstrating how public attitudes are shifting dramatically in favor of animal protection and the lobbying force of the circus industry is now negligible.

A 2015 Gallup poll found that 69 percent of Americans are concerned about the use of wild animals in circuses and according to a November 2016 article in Forbes magazine, circus attendance in the United States has dropped an estimated 30 to 50 percent over the last 20 years. Gross revenue from circuses fell almost nine percent between 2007 and 2012.

People now understand much more clearly the physical and behavioral needs of elephants, tigers, lions, and other wild animals, and it’s painfully obvious that circuses cannot meet those needs with their constant chaining, caging, and travel schedules. Trained with pain and the fear of punishment, caged and chained in trucks and trailers, forced to endure months of grueling travel, and bullied to perform silly tricks, animals in circuses and other traveling displays are victims and not willing performers.

These spectacles are dangerous for animals and even occasionally for people. Just in the last few years, a tiger knocked down and dragged a trainer across a pen as she screamed for help at a Pensacola, Florida, fair during a performance for a children’s field trip. The tiger was beaten and the trainer required surgery for her injuries. During a photo shoot in Detroit, Michigan, a tiger got loose in a building and trainers used an electric weed whacker to get the animal out of a stairwell and eventually back into a cage. Three elephants performing at a Shrine Circus in St. Charles, Missouri, ran amok in a parking lot for 45 minutes, damaging multiple vehicles. At another Shrine Circus in Salina, Kansas, a tiger escaped during a performance and a woman narrowly escaped harm after coming face to face with the tiger in an arena restroom.

The era of wild animal acts in circuses and even in movies and television is waning. New forms of entertainment and technology will replace them, and the only question we’ll ask is, why did it take so long? Thanks to the City of Angels for helping show the way.

Source: A Humane Nation

Link between animal cruelty and human abuse

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A review of the literature
By: Regan Jules-Macquet

Animal abuse has become increasingly recognised as a serious crime, as well as an indicator of human-directed violence (A Campbell ‘The Admissibility of Evidence of Animal Abuse in Criminal Trials for Child and Domestic Abuse’ (2002) 43(2) Boston College Law Review 463).

Recently there have been a few cases of judicial responses to animal cruelty and abuse in the South African media. Public sentiment often runs very high over cases involving animals. A story that was discussed on social media refers to a magistrate who allegedly stated that people care more for animals than for humans when passing a light sentence for dog fighting.

The purpose of this article is to provide a brief overview of the literature on the link between animal cruelty and criminal behaviour, illustrating that dealing appropriately with animal cruelty offences is a necessary part of addressing problem human behaviour. It is a specious argument that one must care either for humans or for animals, but not for both. As the literature in this article will show, the fates of both humans and animals are inextricably intertwined, and that this understanding should inform investigative, judicial and prosecutorial responses to such offences.

Legislation

Animal mistreatment is dealt with in terms of the Animals Protection Act 71 of 1962 (the Act). People found guilty of contravening the Act are liable on conviction to a fine or incarceration for a maximum of 12 months. Civil orders for damages up to R 5 000 can also be made in terms of the Act. The Act specifies the various actions that constitute animal abuse and mistreatment, which range from the causing of pain, injury or suffering of an animal, to dog fighting and keeping an animal in unsuitable conditions without adequate medical care, water, light and food.

The links between human behaviour and animal cruelty and abuse

A strong connection exists between animal mistreatment and human violence (C Hensley and SE Tallichet ‘Childhood and Adolescent Animal Cruelty Methods and Their Possible Link to Adult Violent Crimes’ (2009) 24 Journal of Interpersonal Violence 147 and F Ortiz ‘Making The Dogman Heel: Recommendations For Improving The Effectiveness Of Dogfighting Laws’ (2010) 3 Stanford Journal of Animal Law and Policy 1). The presence of abusive behaviour towards animals is a characteristic of one in four violent adult offenders (FR Ascione ‘Animal Abuse and Youth Violence’ (2001) Juvenile Justice Bulletin at 1). People who commit a single known act of animal abuse are more likely to commit other criminal offences than non-abusers. Animal abusers are 5,3 times more likely to have a violent criminal record than non-abusers (A Arluke, J Levin, and F Ascione ‘The Relationship of Animal Abuse to Violence and Other Forms of Antisocial Behaviour’ (1999) 14 Journal of Interpersonal Violence 963).

Current evidence does show that animal mistreatment by youths is linked with general criminality, interpersonal violence and gang-related activities. Offenders in the United States who have been charged with animal abuse are more likely to carry and use firearms in the commission of other offences and commit acts of violence towards other humans (J Maher and H Pierpoint ‘Friends, Status Symbols And Weapons: The Use of Dogs by Youth Groups and Youth Gangs’ (2011) 55 Crime, Law and Social Change 405). Abuse of animals for fun by youths is a statistically significant predictor for interpersonal violence as adults. Other research into the link between animal abuse and human violence has shown that animal abusers are four times more likely to commit property offences and five times more likely to commit violent offences. According to Arluke, Levine and Ascione (op cit), animal abusers are more likely to commit other offences such as drug-related offences, disorderly behaviour, property offences and other antisocial acts than people with no history of animal abuse.

Animal abuse appears in offences such as domestic violence, where pets of the victim can be injured or killed. There is a significant association between domestic violence and animal abuse to the extent that animal abuse is regarded as an indicator of potential domestic violence in the home (KL Thompson and E Gullone ‘Promotion of Empathy and Prosocial Behaviour in Children through Human Education’ (2003) 38(3) Australian Psychologist at 175, as well as Campbell op cit). In studies of women at a domestic violence shelter, 71% of women who owned pets reported that the pet had been a target of violence by the abuser. Thirty-three percent of women whose pets had been abused also reported that their children had been abused (Ascione op cit). A study on abused children indicated that 60% of the cases involved animal as well as child abuse, the figure escalating to 88% when child abuse was physical (D Atwood-Harvey ‘From Touchstone to Tombstone: Children’s Experiences with the Abuse of their Beloved Pets’ (2007) 31 November Humanity & Society 379). According to Flynn, efforts to reduce animal mistreatment and cruelty are likely to reduce tolerance for interpersonal violence in communities, which, in turn, may reduce interpersonal violence against women and children (Thompson and Gullone, 2003 (op cit)).

Animal abuse not only inhibits the development of empathy and is more likely to lead to interpersonal violence; it also is strongly connected with attitudes, values and beliefs supporting interpersonal violence. This relationship exists for both sexes, although males are almost four times more likely to abuse animals than females (CP Flynn ‘Animal Abuse in Childhood and Later Support for Interpersonal Violence in Families’ (1999) 7(2) Society and Animals 161). Simply witnessing animal mistreatment and abuse at a young age increases the risk of not only perpetuating animal abuse oneself, but also engaging in delinquent behaviour (BC Henry ‘Exposure to Animal Abuse and Group Context: Two Factors Affecting Participation in Animal Abuse’ 2004 17(4) Anthrozoos 290 and KL Thompson and E Gullone ‘An Investigation into the Association between the Witnessing of Animal Abuse and Adolescents’ Behavior toward Animals’ (2006) 14(3) Society & Animals 221). This effect is heightened when the animal abuse is perpetrated by someone with whom the witness has an emotional connection, such as a parent, sibling or peer (Thompson and Gullone (2006) op cit).

Accurately identifying and appropriately responding to animal abuse in young children not only allows for early interventions, but may also act as a predictor of long-term behavioural problems in individual cases (FR Ascione, ME Kaufmann and S Brooks ‘Animal Abuse and Developmental Psychopathology: Recent Research, Programmatic, and Therapeutic Issues and Challenges for the Future’ In: A FINE (ed) Handbook on Animal-Assisted Therapy: Theoretical Foundations and Guidelines for Practice (United Kingdom: Academic Press 2000) 325). L Merz-Perez et al cautions against dismissing animal mistreatment and abuse as petty offences, and states that each act of violence towards an animal should be thoroughly investigated as a potential precursor of human violence (L Merz-Perez, KM Heide, and IJ Silverman ‘Childhood Cruelty to Animals and Subsequent Violence against Humans’ (2001) 45 International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 556).

In addition to perpetrators of animal abuse, passive bystanders or witnesses of animal abuse have been shown to demonstrate behaviours, values and beliefs similar to passive bystanders/witnesses of human violence (A Arluke ‘Bystander Apathy in Animal Abuse Cases: Exploring Barriers to Child and Adolescent Intervention’ (2012) 25(1) Anthrozoös 5). By addressing and preventing passivity towards animal mistreatment and abuse, improvements can also be made in preventing passivity towards human violence, particularly with children.

Profile of an offender For illustrative purposes, a brief case study of an offender who committed animal abuse has been included. Offender X is a 38-year-old male from the Eastern Cape, who was convicted for bestiality. A brief review of his personal circumstances reveals the following:

  • Disrupted family structure through the death of both parents while young.
  • Poor psychosocial development as he has never had an intimate relationship with a woman.
  • Still lives with his sisters, failed to complete his education and does not work.
  • History of asocial behaviour in the form of three prior convictions for substance abuse and two prior incidents of inappropriate sexual contact, one of which was incestual.
  • A history of substance abuse of dagga and alcohol.
  • Distorted cognition illustrated in the fact that he believes the neighbourhood women use witchcraft against him as the reason why he does not have any intimate relations with adult women.

The assessment outcome was to refer the offender for a full psychiatric evaluation and for cognitive behavioural therapy, coupled with family therapy and aftercare. The above case depicts the complex presence of multiple risk factors that warrant close and careful attention in a single case of animal abuse. This case illustrates the links between animal abuse and offending behaviour that has been repeatedly identified in research literature.

Prosecuting animal cruelty and abuse

Campbell recommends the evidentiary use of acts of animal mistreatment and abuse in cases that include child abuse and domestic violence on the grounds that it may be easier to detect and prove and can serve to illustrate lack of accident, intent or motive (A Campbell op cit). The connection between animal abuse/mistreatment and child abuse and domestic violence should receive more attention by detectives, prosecutors and judicial officers. According to Campbell, focusing on evidence of animal abuse or mistreatment can help reduce animal abuse, child abuse and domestic violence (A Campbell op cit).

Suggestions

In the event that a case of animal abuse or mistreatment occurs, it is suggested that the accused be referred for a psychosocial assessment by either the Department of Social Development, or by a civil society service provider, such as the National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders (NICRO). This is to ensure that any underlying social functioning and psychosocial issues are correctly identified and taken into consideration when developing the diversion order or sentence. Family assessments will be required in the event that child abuse or domestic violence is suspected.

Implications for policy and practice

It is hoped that this article has demonstrated the significance of animal abuse and mistreatment in the field of criminal justice. Animal abuse should be prioritised for its own sake in order that we work towards the creation of a non-violent society. Unfortunately there are many people who regard animal welfare matters as of secondary importance relative to human welfare, as petty or trivial acts not requiring serious attention. This article hopes to improve the general understanding of the extent which human and animal welfare issues overlap and are inextricably intertwined. The research briefly reviewed above indicates that there is a need in South Africa to pay more attention to animal welfare issues as part of broader social justice and crime prevention initiatives. In particular, police, prosecution and judicial officers would benefit from education and training on the aetiology and dynamics of animal abuse and mistreatment and its relevance for human behaviour, particularly criminal behaviour. In addition, there must be better coordination between service providers such as NICRO, animal welfare organisations, the Department of Social Development, the police and prosecution in dealing with acts of animal abuse and mistreatment, child abuse and domestic violence (FR Ascione et al op cit). In addition, funders of crime prevention projects should begin to consider funding interventions that focus on animal welfare issues as well as general lifeskills as standard crime prevention initiatives.

Conclusion

This article provided a brief summary of the current literature on the linkages between animal abuse and mistreatment and human aggression and violence. It is important that South African criminal justice stakeholders become increasingly aware of the significance of animal abuse and its implications for criminal behaviour and crime prevention initiatives. It is hoped that future cases of animal abuse and mistreatment will receive more careful attention, as they deserve.

Regan Jules-Macquet BA (Hons) (UCT) is a project manager at NICRO in Cape Town.

Source: www.saflii.org