ANIMAL CRUELTY – press releases from Andrew Linzey

Sep 29, 2012

A call for a National Animal Cruelty Offenders’ Register was made by Professor Andrew Linzey, a theologian at Oxford University and the director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, in an address at St Albans Cathedral on Sunday 30th September.

The Animal Offenders’ register is recommended, along with compulsory empathy training, as a “two stage approach based on Christian principles of repentance and compassion” in response to the many thousands of animal cruelty cases each year.

“For a long time, animal protectionists have been calling for stricter penalties for those convicted of animal abuse. And the usual measures, including fines and community orders, seem a pretty weak-kneed response to those who deliberately inflict cruelty. That is why some are now calling for automatic prison sentences for cruelty and long ones at that. But prison, it seems to me, is not the answer. We know that around 40% of prisoners reoffend and prison frequently dehumanises people. We have to find a way in which the seriousness of animal cruelty can be registered, offenders effectively treated, and animals saved from cruelty. This requires a radical rethink”, argues Linzey.

“Compulsory empathy training for offenders would not be a soft option. Over a period of months, even years, people who are cruel would need to attend classes that require them to confront their own proclivities toward violence and learn to empathise with the suffering of animals.”

“Animal protectionists should step up to the plate and embrace this opportunity to lead empathy training courses. They should help fund them, run them, and staff them with professionals. It is too easy just to condemn; animal protectionists need to invest in the change they want to see in the world.”

“For those who cannot or will not undergo empathy training, or those who do not successfully complete the course, or those who reoffend, then their name needs to be placed on a national register. Those on the register would be forbidden from keeping an animal, or working with them. This register could be consulted by individuals and employers and it would become an offence to sell an animal to such a person or employ them in animal-related work.”

Professor Linzey argues that the low priority given to animal cruelty in the criminal justice system is reflective of a much deeper blindness: “Our society hasn’t yet appreciated what is at stake for human beings. Cruelty is not just a vice; it is a social vice. There is a well-established link between animal abuse and human violence supported by hundreds of psychological, medical, sociological, and statistical studies. A world in which animal cruelty goes unchecked is bound to be a less morally safe world for human beings.”

For more press information please contact:

Sam Calvert, Samantha Calvert Marketing & PR, sam@samcalvert.plus.com / +44 (0)1782 505430 / +44 (0)7967 0420

Notes:

· The Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, founded in 2006 by its director Professor Andrew Linzey, is an independent Centre with the aim of pioneering ethical perspectives on animals through academic research, teaching and publication. The Centre has more than 50 Fellows drawn from a variety of academic disciplines from throughout the world.

For more information about the Centre and its Fellows, please see its website at www.oxfordanimalethics.com.

 

Animal cruelty crimes should be treated with the same seriousness as crimes against humans, claims leading psychologist.
“Almost without exception, the perpetrators of animal cruelty crimes are the same individuals who carry out aggressive and violent acts including assault, partner and child abuse. Thus, animal cruelty crimes should be treated with the same seriousness as crimes against humans. Moreover, the punishments should reflect their severity”, claims leading psychologist Professor Eleonora Gullone, Associate Professor in Psychology at Monash University, Australia.
The claim is made in Professor Gullone’s pioneering new book Animal Cruelty, Antisocial Behaviour, and Aggression: More Than A Link published this month. She argues that animal cruelty behaviours are a form of antisocial behaviour that appear right alongside human aggression and violence. The book maintains that “by enacting adequate animal cruelty laws that properly indicate the seriousness of the animal cruelty crime committed, future violence toward both human and animal victims can be prevented.”
The book is part of the Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics book series in partnership with the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. The Palgrave Macmillan book series is jointly edited by the internationally known theologian the Reverend Professor Andrew Linzey, Director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, and Professor Priscilla Cohn, Emeritus Professor in Philosophy at Penn State University and Associate Director of the Centre.
In addition to being Professor in Psychology at Monash University, Professor Gullone is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society, the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, UK, and the Institute for Human-Animal Connection, University of Denver, USA. Her research areas include emotional development and regulation, antisocial behaviour and animal cruelty. Professor Gullone’s research has focussed upon the emotional development of children and adolescents, including empathy development and she has published more than 100 articles in internationally renowned journals.
Commenting on the publication, Professor Andrew Linzey says “This carefully researched and groundbreaking book provides clinching evidence that a world in which animal cruelty goes unchecked is bound to be a morally unsafe world for human beings”.
Animal Cruelty, Antisocial Behaviour, and Aggression: More Than A Link is published on 31 October in the U.K. GBP 55.00 and 27 November in the US priced USD 85.00.
ends
For more press information please contact Samantha Calvert, Samantha Calvert Marketing & PR on +44 (0)1782 505430 / +44 (0)7967 042050 / sam@samcalvert.plus.com or Lindsey Ruthen, Associate Publicist, Palgrave Macmillan, on +1 (646) 307-5659 / Lindsey.Ruthen@palgrave-usa.com.

 

 

 

 

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *