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Stricter penalties for animal abuse protect people, too
By David S. Greene
March 22, 2010
We already know that many violent criminals, as well as animal abusers, started off by demonstrating the tendency early on. Preying on the helpless seems to be a learned behavior. That’s not news. What is interesting, though, is the growing trend spotlighted in the New York Times.
“Animal abuse is one of the four indicators that the F.B.I. profilers use to asses future violent behavior, so I don’t see why we should not use it too,” said Diana S. Urban, a Democratic state representative in Connecticut who sponsored a bill mandating that animal control workers and child welfare workers cross-report suspected animal, child or domestic abuse.
Frank R. Ascione, a professor at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work who has extensively studied the topic, said, “The research is pretty clear that there are connections between animal abuse and domestic violence and child abuse.”
One study found that in 88 percent of homes where children were physically abused, pets were mistreated too. A 2007 study found that women abused by their intimate partner were 10 times more likely to report that their partner had hurt or killed one or more of their pets than women who were not abused.
Cross-reporting. Sharing information. What a concept.
Cool runnings: For the first time since the mid-90′s, no dogs died during this year’s just completed 1,000 mile Iditarod Race (won by Lance Mackey for the fourth consecutive time). Eleven hundred dogs left Anchorage, and every one of them crossed the finish line in Nome. My favorite anecdote from this year’s race? A Jamaican musher finished the race. Ya mon, way to go!
Dr. McConnell on Diane Rehm: Dr. Patricia McConnell, she of the most excellent The Other End of the Leash, will be appearing on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show today. Be sure to tune in (check your local listings for airtimes). Dr. McConnell will be talking about dominance-based training vs. positive reinforcement methodologies. Dear Cesar Millan: if you’re reading this in time, please listen in on your local NPR station….oh, and thanks for reading my column!
That’s it for the current events and news part of the column….it’s always worth taking some time out to read certain blogs simply because they’re a joy to read.
Is she really going out with him? I loved this post over at Heckled by Parrots. Sometimes our animal companions can tell us something about the people closest to us.
Enough with the skin already: I frequently learn something new from our BFF Dr. Patty Khuly, but you should check out this Fully Vetted post because it’s just flat out funny.
I always like to hear from readers, especially if you have tips, and links for interesting stories. Give me a shout in the comments, or better yet, send me an e-mail.
Photo credit: Iditarod, flickr creative commons.
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No dogs died at the 2010 Iditarod, but they didn’t all cross the finish line at Nome.
Comment by Jan — March 22, 2010 @ 11:12 am
I always feel kind of famous when you point to something over at Heckled. Thanks, David!! :)
Comment by rebecca — March 22, 2010 @ 12:06 pm
Will listen for sure for Dr. McConnell on NPR. As Cesar is always encouraging all of his followers to listen and learn. He uses a tremendous amount of positive reinforcement….Have you watched his shows lately? Read any books?
He works so well with shelter animals, such as Sissy the shelter dog with extreme fear….going slow…engaging her with treats to gain her trust. He is Amazing and such a mentor to us in the Animal Welfare Industry to work with our dogs we pull from death row that many have given up on. He is the foundation of positive energy, technique, and encouragement for those of us working with animals of unknown history every day.
Comment by GWP Rescue — March 23, 2010 @ 6:13 am
Dear David:
if you believe that Cesar Millan’s methods are simply use of dominance, then you must be watching a different show than I do. His emphasis (and therefore, mine)are on being calm but assertive, using different methods for different dogs and different OWNER’s based on the situation. Positive reinforcement is always the best policy but that can be accomplished in many different ways.
Comment by Jayhawkdog — March 23, 2010 @ 8:27 am
The emphasis I would like to make is that Cesar doesn’t train dogs. Whenever a dog on his show requires training he always takes the dog to a trainer that he knows and trusts.
On the fourth installment of the Mastering Leadership series DVD entitled “Sit and Stay, the Cesar Way” Cesar merely observes and ask questions of the professional trainers who explain how to train the dog. He makes narrations on how the tariner is remaining calm and assertive and makes notes and suggestions for viewers.
In my opinion that’s where the focus is. Training should always be positive reinforced however behavior modification/getting rid of fears is not training. They say “To learn to swim you just have to jump in the water” and that’s what my dad did, he threw me, as a kid, into the water. That is not positive reinforcement because I was scared of water. Not because it was a phobia but because it was something I never experienced.
I think ultimately that is the distinction that must be made. Everywhere I see Cesar’s Way compared to training when it is not training. Cesar’s Way creates a calm balanced dog who is well behaved because all his needs as a dog is fulfilled. You can’t teach a neurotic dog to play fetch.
Comment by Alex Quintana — March 23, 2010 @ 9:19 am
Getting a little defensive of Cesar Millan, aren’t we? While I realize he is a resident deity to many, he is not the only trainer in the dog world, and his methodology isn’t the only possible choice. In addition, it might be helpful to bear in mind that what you see on his shows and DVD’s are well edited to put his training (and his behavior) in the best possible light. I do not dispute for a minute that he is successful, and I’m amused by the comments jumping to his defense, especially since I never maligned the man. I merely suggested he tune in to hear Dr. McConnell’s radio appearance. Jawhawkdog: “simply the use of dominance”…did I say that? No, I did not. Thanks for the comment, though. Discussions are good. Putting words in my mouth: not so much.
We now resume our regularly scheduled self-righteousness, already in progress.
Comment by David S. Greene — March 23, 2010 @ 9:27 am
(my comment posted after Alex’s, but I hadn’t seen it. I’m actually quite in agreement with the words in comment 5)
Comment by David S. Greene — March 23, 2010 @ 10:01 am
This is fascinating to me because I am an avid reader of dog blogs and recently saw one of my favorites with a video and blog questioning some of Millan’s methods. It showed a dog being shocked by Millan on the sly. If it wasn’t on the sly it would have at least been on the up and up. It also showed a video with what looked like the dog being choked to the point where it could not get up. The story and the videos were eye opening. I went to show my husband the next morning, but guess what? The post was GONE! As if it never was there. It’s funny because I noticed that at the end of a long list of comments from horrified readers the day before when the video was still there, there were suddenly a bunch of comments from people like the Millan zealouts who posted here, David. I put two and two together, and I think some other readers did too, judging by comments on another post on that blog. Looks like his dog training methods transfer to his attempts to dominate what is said about him in the media. It is likely he and his cult leaders strongarmed the blog into pulling it. He somehow muzzled one of my favorite bloggers. Shameful.
I wanted to share those two videos with you here, so people could see this side of Millan. (I know he has helped countless dogs. I am not so much against him — well, I am now — as against what seem to be freakish media control.) They were available on You Tube. I have showed a few friends after the blog post went away. But when I went to find them for you today, they are GONE! It says National Geographic pulled them for copyright issues. That is ridiculous, because there are still tons of his other National Geographic shows on You Tube. Looks like the Millan Machine has struck again.
It is actually frightening that Millan and his people 1) feel the need to do control everything in the media about him and that they 2) can do this. If more fans realized that his fame is because critics with large audiences are often squelched, and because he can control what you see and hear about him and his methods, maybe they would not fall into the masses lulled by his tightly controlled opiate. It’s frightening, in a sci-fi kind of way almost, that he is doing this.
While writing this, I stumbled upon a great site. It’s a Facebook page called Anti Cesar Millan. Here is the link. http://www.facebook.com/pages/.....7584126794 The link is also above on “my website.” It looks like Millan’s people are barking back there, too, but they are harmless there. I look forward to reading it.
David, it is funny how one small aside on your blog brought the Millan Machinery to your front door. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to do my part against his censoring, bullying, and dominating ways. And keep up the great work!
Comment by Dismantle the Millan Machine! — March 23, 2010 @ 10:57 am