Researchers Explore Complexities of the Human-Animal Bond

The human-animal bond has its positive side and its negative side.

At the Graduate School of Social Work’s Institute for Human-Animal Connection, researchers are breaking new ground in the study of both.

On the positive side, they are finding new ways to incorporate animal-assisted therapies into social work settings. A single dog, a lone cat or even a shy and socially awkward guinea pig can offer social support to an ailing senior, help an abused child learn to trust or ease depression among the socially isolated. 

On the dark side, researchers are exploring the many facets of animal cruelty and abuse in hopes of stemming the problem.

In 2009, the institute received a two-year, $200,000 grant from the Colorado-based Animal Assistance Foundation to pursue what is known as the LINK project, named for the connection between violence to people and violence to animals. The project calls for an extensive examination of how first responders and other professionals handle animal abuse cases, from inception to final disposition. It grows out of widespread concern in the animal welfare community that only a handful of animal abuse complaints are ever formally addressed by the criminal justice system.

In 2009–10, the first year of the study, the research team delved into how animal abuse cases are addressed by the many different professions likely to encounter them. These include animal control officers, law enforcement professionals, veterinarians, child welfare workers, domestic violence professionals and animal shelter workers. Researchers learned that the various agencies and professionals involved in animal welfare cases lack the tools to define and identify abuse.

For example, animal welfare officers typically must make judgment calls that are, for the most part, unsupported by data. “These officers have to try to distinguish which cases warrant a more significant criminal justice response, which are appropriate to get a summons or a ticket, and which just get a warning,” said Philip Tedeschi, the institute’s clinical director. To make informed decisions, the institute helps to enlist data, much the way criminal justice professionals rely on data in other public safety concerns.

Tedeschi likens the situation to the early days of domestic violence intervention, when police officers lacked the mechanisms for dealing effectively with intimate partner violence.