Animal Abuse and Domestic Violence: A View from the Border

SUMMARY Previous research indicates that batterers often threaten or harm pets in order to intimidate and control their female partners. Most of this research, however, has been limited to samples comprised primarily of non-Hispanic women. To address this gap, this paper reports findings from a survey of 151 pet-owning women (74% Hispanic) who sought help from two South Texas domestic violence programs near the U.S.-Mexico border. Thirty-six percent of the women reported that their batterers had threatened, harmed, or killed their pets; 35% reported that they worried about the safety of their pets while they were in the abusive relationship; and 20.5% reported that concern for the safety of their pets affected their decision about seeking shelter. The findings indicate that pet abuse is a component of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Hispanic as well as non-Hispanic families.