Animal cruelty on the rise?

"If we treated everyone we meet with the same affection we bestow upon our favourite cat, they too, would purr." Martin Buxbaum

They're among our finest friends, but it seems our feline companions are still bearing the brunt of ownership neglect and brutality.

A recent report revealed that RSPCA shelters accepted an alarming 156,621 animals from 2008 to 2009. Of this, 66,205 were cats.

Sadly, nearly all of the 39,500 animals voluntarily surrendered had to be euthanased because of poor health, behavioural problems or for lack of housing.

Over the same period, the RSPCA received a staggering 50,765 animal cruelty complaints Australia-wide. Yet only 202 perpetrators were convicted.

Cowardly acts

One Victorian man, who drowned eight of his cats last year and then bashed their heads with a hammer, did not escape punishment.

In October 2009, 59-year-old Robert Raymer, from Bonbeach, was sentenced to a four-month prison sentence — to be served in the community — on one charge of aggravated cruelty.

Prosecutor Senior Constable Ross Thomas said: "It is the lowest, cruellest and cowardly act that a human can do."

After attacking the cats, Mr Raymer assaulted his daughter's de-facto partner and smashed the couple's car windscreen with a rock, before threatening to burn the couple's house down and kill his daughter's partner, if he couldn't see his grandchildren.

Mr Raymer was sentenced to a further 12-month community-based order on charges of criminal damage, unlawful assault, making threats to kill and threatening to damage property.

He pleaded guilty to all charges. Magistrate Martin Grinberg said people must be sent a message, if they "are cruel to animals to such a degree, unless there are exceptional circumstances, then a term of imprisonment will apply."

A marker for wider violence?

While cruelty to animals and humans were apparent in this case, is there a link between such aggressive and violent acts?

According to a study posted on Human-Animal interaction website, Anthrozoology.org, "it has been suggested that acts of violence against human and non-human animals share commonalities, and that animal abuse is a sentinel for current or future violence toward people."

The study went on to observe that "examination of the limited pool of empirical data suggests that animal abuse is relatively common among men".

However it says further research must be made to make a more accurate link.

Catmax is an advocate of respecting and caring for animals of all kinds. Catmax encourages reporting any acts of animal abuse to your local RSPCA.