Associations between intentional wildlife aggression and child abuse perpetration

BACKGROUND: Previous research has identified a significant relationship between companion animal abuse and child abuse, yet no study has explored the relationship between child abuse and intentional wildlife aggression outside of lawful hunting practices or agricultural contexts. OBJECTIVE: The goals of this exploratory study were to examine prevalence rates of intentional killing or harming wildlife, the associations between wildlife aggression and child abuse perpetration (psychological, physical, and very severe physical child abuse), and if cruelty-related motives for harming or killing wildlife were associated with child abuse perpetration. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Anonymous survey data from 622 individuals reporting on their current or most recent partner's child abuse perpetration and wildlife aggression was used. METHODS: Frequencies of intentionally harming or killing wildlife were run to provide prevalence rates of wildlife aggression within the sample. Frequencies of type of animal harmed (e.g., raccoon, possum, fox, skunk, squirrel, bird, coyote, stray cat, or "other") were also reported. Unadjusted odds ratios were run to examine the bivariate relationships between wildlife aggression and child abuse. RESULTS: The most frequently harmed or killed animals were squirrels, birds, stray cats, and raccoons. Killing wildlife was associated with a 712% increase in any form of child abuse perpetration and intentionally harming wildlife was associated with a 1548% increase in child abuse perpetration. Cruelty-motivated harm to wildlife was associated with a 2445% increase in very severe physical child abuse perpetration. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the importance of further research examining wildlife aggression in relation to broader patterns of interpersonal violence.