By Barbie Novoryta
Field Supervisor
Humane Law Enforcement
Washington Humane Society
I went to see the newly-released film “Untraceable” on opening day, January 25th, 2008. Not mind you, I am a forensic junkie, an individual born into the curious and forever unsatisfied realm of the investigative world. I had to see this movie. The unending trailers displayed for this new look into the FBI world of cybercrime definitely caught my eye. Besides the obvious cyber-murder plot, I was intrigued by the movie’s attempt to skim the surface of the “LINK” between animal cruelty and human violence. The story, directed by Gregory Hoblit (Fallen, Primal Fear), is a look into the fairly new crime of cyber-violence, a crime that can be virtually untraceable; hence, the title. The dismay I felt was the relatively minor attention the movie portrayed that perpetrators of human violence frequently start at cruelty to animals before they graduate to more “societal unacceptable crimes”, as you guessed it, human violence. The star of the movie,
Diane Lane (and one of my favorite actresses) is a cyber crimes expert, and an agent with the FBI who ultimately becomes personally entangled with the case by default. Her dedication to the case, her persistence and ultimately, her personal sacrifice become the focus of the movie. My slight disappointment of the film was that the movie elected to show that the opening act of animal cruelty is taken lightly by the FBI brass. They have the ultimate power to decide if the case is worth pursuing. One comment made by the FBI supervisor in charge was “it’s just a kitten”. That remark inevitably made millions of movie-goers feel what they were experiencing in their own minds was an over-emotionalized concern for a living creature. Appropriately, the director made the obvious assumption that, if you were sitting in the audience, you can actually feel the pain by this innocent animal. As the gasps of disbelief and outrage filled the theatre, the realization set in for me that this was a slight attempt by Hollywood to bridge the connection between animal cruelty and human violence. I am a seasoned animal cruelty investigator, but I found I needed to virtually close my eyes before the anticipated cruelty of an innocent kitten that would be broadcast live on the internet. Thankfully, the director elected to eliminate the actual act of the animal being tortured. As the movie progresses, the perpetrator and webmaster of the site graduates from animals to humans. He puts them live on the internet with elaborate, creative (and I don’t say that to be complimentary) ways to kill them. The more viewers that tune in, the faster the person dies.
For those of you who are not familiar with “The LINK’ between animal cruelty and human violence, there is a factual, documented Link between the two. Many studies have been conducted over the years that provide factual documentation that the triad of animal cruelty, bed wetting, and fire setting, primarily in kids, are considered red flags for future violent behavior. Those studies have proven that many kids with these tendencies have become perpetrators of human violence. The FBI considers animal cruelty one of the patterns of behavior when profiling serial killers. Virtually all serial killers profiled, including Jeffrey Dahmer, who murdered 17 boys, Kip Kinkel, who opened fire on his classmates in Oregon, and the ‘Boston Strangler’ Robert DeSalvo, all have animal cruelty in their childhood. Obviously, all people who commit cruelty to animals do not go on to become murderers.
If we can’t convince society that violence to animals is unacceptable in itself, then we must convince them it is not acceptable through illuminating the fact that it can be a precursor to human violence. Although “Untraceable” lightly portrayed the LINK, I applaud them for portraying the LINK at all, albeit slight.
By: Scott Giacoppo, Chief Programs Officer, Washington Humane Society
The Forgotten Fight
With all of the attention on dog fighting that has been generated by the Michael Vick case public awareness has skyrocketed. For the first time in my life, I’ve seen this issue in the mainstream media; HBO Real Sports did a segment, CNN has highlighted it on several occasions, Fox news, Sports Illustrated and many many more, and because of this, everyone now knows the horrors that these dogs face when they are raised by the wrong person. America has finally seen what we see and they couldn’t turn away.
I have to admit this attention has made me very happy. People are constantly on the lookout, ready to call if they even suspect this crime is being committed in their community. People outside the “animal welfare world” are discussing it, and we couldn’t be happier. But there’s a forgotten part of illegal animal fighting that seems to have gotten lost in this case. That is the grotesque act of cockfighting. People don’t realize it but cockfighting (forcing two roosters to fight with razor sharp blades attached to their legs) is as prevalent in most communities as dog fighting is. When people think of dog fighting they picture their companion dog being victimized and it breaks their hearts and they quickly learn to detest these heartless criminals. Yet most do not view roosters as companions so the sympathy isn’t always there. Sadly, most people view them all as just “chickens” and more often than not, nothing more than dinner. Their death doesn’t carry the same meaning. Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a case against eating meat (we’ll save farm animal abuse for another day), it’s about asking you to acknowledge all forms of cruelty as being equal regardless of the species. I’ve rescued many birds over the years but one in particular comes to mind, one that showed me that these animals are capable of feelings.
Several years ago during the raid of a local cockfighter, while we were seizing the gamecocks, the fighting paraphernalia and of course, the hens, one of those hens went into a panicked frenzy. She was being extremely vocal, flapping her wings and charging everyone who went near her…she was protecting her eggs. We finally got her into a rescue crate and placed her eggs in with her. She calmed right down. Now I ask you, doesn’t this animal deserve our sympathy as much as those poor dogs pulled from the Vick residence? Don’t the animals that we never get to interact with, the ones that we will probably never cuddle up with on a couch; don’t they deserve our protection too? WHS thinks so, we would never ever turn an animal away and we would never say to a caller “oh we wouldn’t help that type of animal”. WHS believes all animals regardless of species deserve our help. I hope you all join us in this belief.
Scott Giacoppo, Chief Programs Officer, Washington Humane Society
By: Scott Giacoppo, Chief Programs Officer, Washington Humane Society
It’s only been a few short weeks since I came to WHS as the new Chief Programs Officer and I was recently asked to write a blog. I wasn’t exactly sure what to write. What message could I possibly have for everyone with a computer? Then it dawned on me. Over the past few weeks I’ve been thinking about the “animal protection world”. Let me start here, for the past 15 years I’ve worked in a few different roles for a humane society in Boston. One of those roles was as an animal cruelty investigator where I saw some of the worst that people could do to animals. I also saw people who cared so deeply that they would do just about anything to help. That kept me going, that gave me hope. And now, years later, I’ve found exactly the same thing right here in DC. After reviewing the cases that are being investigated right now by our WHS Law Enforcement Officers, I noticed that they are exactly the same acts of cruelty as those I’ve investigated 500 miles to the north. The problems facing animals today in our city streets are not unique to DC, nor are they merely a national problem; they are problems that we can find in every city and every town worldwide. It’s embarrassing to think that a member of my own species is capable of such heartless acts. And I guess while I’ve always known this, coming here has made me realize that not only is it true that cruelty exists everywhere but that no matter where the cruelty occurs, there are those wonderful people who will stand up against it. Today for instance, I met a volunteer in our shelter, she doesn’t get paid in cash for her time (I like to think she gets paid in tail wags and purrs) but she does it because it helps, it helps this animal right here right now. Yesterday, I met a young girl who is learning to advocate on behalf of animals. This 12-year-old girl is writing letters to Congress, City Council, to corporations and to anyone who will listen with hopes that her words will help end animal suffering. These people are everywhere! People call us everyday to report cruelty, people find lost animals and bring them to our adoption centers for care, people come by to drop off blankets, supplies and even money! They really want to help. So here is my message, get ready because while it may be simple, it has deep emotional meaning…my message to you is… Thank you.
Scott Giacoppo, Chief Programs Officer, Washington Humane Society
www.washhumane.org
