2005 Animal cruelty
Cruelty to animals: a human problem
Tuesday 22 February 2005
Telstra Theatre, Australian War Memorial, Canberra
In the 2005 Scientific Seminar, RSPCA Australia asked: are we doing enough to prevent cruelty to animals in our society? And what are the implications for society of allowing animal abuse to continue?
Preventing cruelty to animals is the founding mission of the RSPCA movement, but despite nearly 200 years of dedicated work, cruelty persists with disheartening regularity.
Our understanding of the causes of cruelty to animals has improved, but there is much more to be done to address these causes and to adapt our legislation to protect animals from abuse and neglect as we now define them. And as we examine the triggers involved, it becomes increasingly apparent that cruelty to animals cannot be quarantined from the broader issue of violence in our homes and in society generally.
The Seminar tackled these important questions through two main themes:
- preventing cruelty to animals through early intervention, education and changing legislation; and
- examining the connection between cruelty towards animals and current or future violence towards humans.
It also discussed how we can improve the links between agencies dealing with cruelty to animals and other human problems.
This project is supported by the Commonwealth Government through a grant-in-aid administered by the Department of Finance and Deregulation.