In April of 2008 I spoke with Alison Gianotto, founder and director of Pet-Abuse.com. Pet-Abuse is an internationally recognized organization that tracks animal cruelty cases/abusers throughout the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Spain and New Zealand.
After shifting careers several times (from Wall Street to web developer to professor), Gianotto found solace in a career of animal cruelty prevention and prosecution.
Gianotto has been featured in various publications, including People Magazine, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe and the Chicago Tribune. In addition to print media, she has also made appearances on a number of radio and television programs with the goal of educating the public about "the connection between animal cruelty and interpersonal violence."
WG: Tell me a little bit about Pet-Abuse.com
AG: Pet-Abuse.Com is the largest, most comprehensive searchable database of criminal animal cruelty cases online - we were also the first! Our flagship product is the cruelty database itself, where we analyze thousands of cruelty cases every year, breaking them down by certain criteria so that animal welfare organizations can begin to better understand who is abusing animals, what types of animals are being abused, and why.
WG: What other kinds of services do you offer?
AG: We provide a convicted animal abuser name search, which is used by rescues, humane societies, and breeders to ensure that the person they trust their animals with does not have a history of animal cruelty.
WG: How can this service be of use to common, every day people?
AG: As a general rule, I recommend checking everyone who may end up having contact with your pet when you're not around - vets, groomers, new boyfriends or girlfriends.
WG: What are some of the larger goals that Pet-Abuse.com has?
AG: One of our main goals is to collect data on all of the cruelty cases in the country - to become a clearinghouse for this information - and we've been doing a pretty good job at that. Unfortunately, the government is not mandated to report cases to us, so it's never a complete picture - but the picture gets more complete every year as we make new contacts and gain momentum. Another primary goal is to make it as easy as possible for people to get involved. Our CaseWatch feature, for example, allows registered users to "watch" specific cases for updates and court dates, where they receive an email when new information is posted. Online action alerts and interactive maps that let people see exactly how close to home these cases are occurring are just a few other ways we provide unique tools for animal advocates.
WG: In your 6 years of work in this field, what has been the most surprising thing you've encountered?
AG: That's a tough question. On one hand, it feels like nothing surprises me anymore - and then on the other hand, there are lots of smaller surprises every day. I don't think I have a "most" surprising, but I'll share a few that are important to me...
- The fact that we've managed to secure prosecutions and convictions based solely off of the content of a MySpace profile. I am surprised and encouraged by the fact that law enforcement in some areas is taking animal cruelty seriously enough that they are willing to prosecute people who post videos of themselves burning, fighting and torturing animals on their MySpace profiles.
- Also, the fact that so many more young people "get it." They understand compassion towards animals, and many are making life choices based on their desire to help. Years ago, if you asked a child what they wanted to be when they grew up, you'd hear "doctor," "lawyer," "astronaut." Now, "animal cop" comes up in that same mix, and that's a wonderful, wonderful thing. There are students in law school right now whose sole purpose in being there is to become a prosecuting attorney to help animals. It's just amazing.
WG: Any other surprises?
AG: I am also still surprised by the number of cases we get related to animals that were off-leash or loose at the time of the abuse - even more so when it wasn't the owners first animal that was killed. I want to shake these people and say "If you've had 5 dogs killed in the past 10 years - WHY wouldn't you keep them INSIDE or safely in your own yard?" Obviously, the person committing the crime is responsible, but it surprises me how many people don't understand that keeping their pet out of harm's way is their responsibility.
WG: Speaking of responsibility, what seems to be the most common thing occurring in animal crime cases today?
AG: Neglect is - and probably always will be - the most common cruelty type we see.
WG: Why is that?
AG: Animal neglect is a real problem - some people just don't seem to understand that these animals are completely dependent on us. Their lives are in our hands.
WG: When it comes to reporting animal crimes, do you think that most people who commit these crimes actually face the appropriate repercussions? Or do many get off lucky?
AG: I think some people do, and some people don't. I'll have more concrete answers for you once we're further along in our plea bargain statistics - we only have that data for 35% of our cases so far - but in general, I think many cases are plea bargained when they shouldn't be - If they were prosecuted in the first place.
WG: Do more laws need to be created to help this issue?
AG: Many people believe we need better laws to prevent and punish animal abuse, but I think that for the most part, we have plenty of good laws already on the books (I did say for the most part). If those laws are not being used properly, no amount of new legislation is going to improve things for animals. One project we're working on is tracking misdemeanor versus felony charges in cases. Once we have more data collected, we'll be able to point out which states have great felony laws, but never, ever use them.
To learn more about Pet-Abuse.com, visit their website by clicking here.
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