The Co-occurrence of Animal Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence Among a Nationally Representative Sample: Evidence of "The Link" in the General Population

Abstract

This article empirically examines if the relationship between animal abuse and intimate partner violence (often referred to as "the link") documented in samples of women accessing services from domestic violence shelters extends to a nationally representative sample of the general Canadian population. Nationally representative data from the 2014 Canadian General Social Survey are analyzed using hierarchical binary logistic regression models, with threats and actual abuse of pets as a predictor of physical and sexual intimate partner violence, controlling for several key sociodemographic variables. Actual and threatened abuse of pets by a romantic partner is a significant and sizable predictor of also reporting that partner perpetrated intimate partner violence, particularly physical and severe abuse. As the first study to use nationally representative data to assess the perpetration of animal abuse and IPV in current/recent relationships, this study makes significant contributions to the interdisciplinary literature on animal abuse and IPV.

Keywords: animal abuse; domestic violence; intimate partner violence; “the link”.