Animal cruelty is a topic that many people try to shy away from. It is found almost anywhere which makes it uncomfortable to talk about. Animal cruelty is found in places such as zoos, circuses, farms, and neighborhoods. Not all cases of animal cruelty get reported, but in 2007 alone, there were 1,212 cases involving dogs and 337 cases involving cats. These are animals that many people hold close to their heart and consider family. The idea of bringing harm to any animal is disturbing to think about; however, it can help bring attention to people who may cause harm to others later on. Numerous studies support this idea, and there are many new policies being created to try and end animal abuse because of this. These studies and data collected by the police show that there is a strong correlation between animal cruelty and sociopathy.

To understand animal cruelty, it will be beneficial to understand animal rights. If animal rights were in effect, it would end experiments on animals, animals being bred and killed simply for clothes, the use of animals in labor, hunting, zoos, and circuses. The main point used in the support of animal rights is that humans have rights, and there are very few differences between humans and animals. The case against animal rights includes points such as that animals were put on the Earth to serve humans. This idea is supported by the Bible, and it is also the overall basic attitude humans have regarding animals. However, there are many people who believe that animals were here before humans. This would mean that animals were not put on Earth to serve humans. Another idea supporting the case against animal rights is that animals are not really conscious. This idea of animals not being conscious was first taught by a French philosopher, Descartes. He taught that animals were not entitled to rights and were "no more than biological robots" ("Animal Rights"). 

Recently, there was a study done to prove that animals are conscious. In a summary of the conference held to discuss the findings of this study, Michael Mountain wrote "Science leaders have reached a critical consensus: Humans are not the only conscious beings; other animals, specifically mammals and birds, are indeed conscious, too" (Bekoff). A few of the scientists at this conference came to this conclusion by doing research and tests on animals that are held in captivity. However, their research and discovery can lead to these scientists no longer being able to study the animals held in captivity. This realization that animals are conscious can be used to protect animals from experimentation. Animal rights is helpful to understand animal cruelty because it helps show the views some people have and how they want to treat animals. 

Animal cruelty is a serious problem that is found all over the world. Animal cruelty is a broad term, but a simple definition would be the intentional injuring or killing of an animal. There are many types of animal cruelty; however, the most common and focused on are the intentional cruelty to animals and neglect. Intentional cruelty means torturing an animal. Neglect has multiple aspects to it. It can be the failure to provide enough food, water, veterinary care, and shelter to an animal. Overall, neglecting an animal endangers its health or causes death ("The Veterinarian's Legal Role in Animal Cruelty Cases").  Animal cruelty can be related to other forms of abuse or violence as well. The senior vice president of forensic sciences for the A.S.P.C.A, Randall Lockwood, has said, "We discovered that in homes where there was domestic violence or physical abuse of children, the incidence of animal cruelty was close to 90 percent ... " (Siebert). This shows that viewing or experiencing abuse can influence animal cruelty and possibly cause sociopathic issues in the future. Animal cruelty can be found in places you would not think about.

Factory farms are one of the most common places that animal cruelty is found. Throughout the last fifty years, these farms have become the number one cause of animal cruelty. The main focus of a factory farm is to maximize the output while minimizing the costs. This focus negatively affects the animals because their living conditions and treatment are not found to be important. This also leads the workers to only be focused on production. They may kick, hit, and whip some of the animals. They often treat the sick and injured animals like this in order to make them move. Another problem found with these farms is the living conditions of these animals. Due to the high demand of products, such as meat and eggs, more animals are crammed into smaller cages. They live in unclean, dark sheds or in wire cages and metal crates. This is unsanitary and the lack of light affects the animal's overall happiness. The space that the animals are put in is so small that they cannot turn or lie down. This makes it difficult to reach the food and water provided. Hens are put in small cages, pigs and chickens are in dark, windowless sheds, and cows are in dirty feedlots ("The Problem").

Due to the unsanitary conditions, the animals have the possibility of getting sick and dying. To prevent this, the animals are given antibiotics. However, these antibiotics can lead to antibiotic resistant bacteria which can be harmful to humans. Genetic manipulation is also done to the animals. This manipulation makes the animals larger and capable of producing more. Making the animals larger harms some animals more than others. The genetic mutation of a chicken can lead to its death; this is due to the legs being unable to support the large body and collapsing. This leads to the chicken starving or becoming dehydrated because it is unable to reach the food and water. The way the animals are killed for food is another source of cruelty. They are crammed onto trucks that take them to the slaughterhouse. Once at the slaughterhouse, they are put into boiling water and other tanks that will remove feathers and hair. After these are removed, the animals are then killed. The treatment of animals on these factory farms is a form of animal cruelty ("Factory Farming: Misery for Animals"). 

Another place where animal cruelty is commonly found is the circus. Hundreds of people attend the circus every year, but only a few think about what these animals went through to be able to perform. Each animal goes through various forms of abuse to be able to provide entertainment for humans. Elephants are burnt and shocked with rods, are scorched by blowtorches, and get pierced by bull hooks. The noses of bears are broken, and their paws are burnt. Monkeys, as well as the other animals, have their teeth knocked out and are drugged constantly to be controlled easier. The cages that these animals are kept in are too small, and they are given little food and water. These animals are also often kept in cages alone and separate from the others. This affects the happiness of the animals, such as the elephants and monkeys that are more social, causing them to be aggressive towards their handlers. The circus, which is where many people find entertainment and fun, is filled with cruelty (Colier). 

Another common form of animal cruelty is animal fights. The most common animals put into fights are dogs and chickens. Pit bulls are the type of dog that most people associate with dog-fights. This gives pit bulls a bad reputation, and many people are afraid to own them (Siebert).  These animal fights have had a spotlight put on them more recently due to cases such as Michael Vick's dog-fight operation. He had a dog fighting operation that spanned multiple states. This is how he was able to avoid being caught for a while; Vick moved the animals and the fight from Georgia to Virginia to avoid authorities. Many other animal fight ringleaders use this as a way to avoid being caught. There are many laws now being created to try and stop these operations.

All fifty states have laws that ban animal fights, but there are loopholes to these laws. One loophole is what Michael Vick did which was transferring the fights across states. Another loophole that helps these fight operations is when the fights are found out by police, the police go after the ringleaders of the fights. The spectators have an easier chance to get away. The majority of the people at these fights are spectators, and they bet on the animals. For the most part, the spectators get away with participating in these events. This allows the spectators to go and attend other animal fights; they are keeping this operation in business by being able to avoid authorities. There is an amendment to a farm bill that was suggested where it would be a crime to bring a child to these events and to be a spectator. This would help control the popularity of these fights (Hotchner). This type of animal cruelty along with other forms of torture can be signs of sociopathy. 

Sociopathy is a term used to describe someone who has difficulty following social norms of behavior. Sociopaths make up most habitual criminals. A habitual criminal is someone who has committed multiple crimes. Another problem found with sociopaths is that there is a large number of them; because there are more sociopaths than psychopaths, sociopaths are a larger problem for society. There is no solid cure for sociopathy, but there are ways to try and prevent it. Gerald Patterson, from the Oregon Social Learning Center, said that "some high-risk parents can be trained to competently socialize their children, but the process is laborious and only a few of those who need such training can be expected to participate" (Lykken). Many sociopaths who later became serial killers have harmed or tortured animals in the past.

Torturing and abusing animals as a child is one of the biggest signs that someone has the possibility of growing up and becoming a sociopath. The torture of animals is found to be proof of a lack of empathy and an inclination towards violence. Not every form of animal abuse is a sign of this, but the torture of animals is. There have been many serial killers who have confessed to torturing animals; to many, torturing animals was the first time they realized they enjoy bringing harm to others. There are dozens of examples, and all of the examples are disturbing to think about; however, they help support the idea that animal abuse is an indicator of sociopathy.

Some of the biggest serial killers in history have admitted to abusing animals in the past. David Berkowitz, also known as Son of Sam, was a serial killer in New York during the 70s. As a child, he shot and killed his neighbor's dog. He believed that a demon had told him to kill people. In 1979, Brenda Spencer opened fire on an elementary school when she was sixteen. Children were injured and two adults were killed. Spencer previously had lit the tails of cats and dogs on fire. This would have been an indicator of her sociopathic tendencies if people had thought about it. Both of these murderers and many more have tortured and killed animals in their past; being able to keep track of the abuse of animals would be extremely helpful in finding people who could otherwise cause harm to humans. (""10 Serial Killers Who Abused Animals First").

There have been numerous studies done throughout the years to try and find common behaviors in children that can be signs of sociopathy. The Macdonald Triad is the idea that there are three behaviors of children that can be signs of sociopathy. The behaviors are setting things on fire, animal cruelty, and wetting the bed after the age of five. This study was originally done by a forensic psychiatrist, J.M. Macdonald. This study has been recreated numerous times, and these recreated trials have confirmed that these behaviors are often found among sociopaths. (Brice)

At a certain point, parents should begin to be concerned about their child's treatment towards animals. Some things a child does, such as sitting on a pet, does not mean they will become a sociopath or have future problems. Small things like that can simply be due to a child's curiosity or ignorance. The cases a parent needs to begin worrying about are when their child locks a pet in a closed space, takes their anger out on a pet, or enjoys watching an animal in pain. These can be signs of psychological problems. (Johnston)

Recently, the FBI has created a new policy where animal abuse is classified as a Class A felony. This new policy was introduced in 2014, but data on the cases was not collected until January 1, 2016. Other Class A felonies include homicide and arson. This new classification puts animal abuse on the same level as these other crimes. Animal abuse was previously a felony in only thirteen states. However, it was classified with miscellaneous crimes. This made it difficult to track the patterns of animal abuse (Grenoble).

This new policy of animal abuse being classified as a felony allows the FBI to track the patterns of animal abuse. Due to animal abuse being an early sign of sociopathy, this new policy allows the FBI to find and keep track of areas with a high number of these cases. The FBI will be able to keep data and statistics on these cases and high-risk demographics. 70% of violent crimes start off with animal abuse, so this ability to track the high-risk demographics will hopefully be able to lower this percentage by finding people who show signs of sociopathic behavior. (Clinebell)

Keeping track of the data collected from these animal cruelty cases has numerous benefits. The data will be put into a public database that is used to keep track of national crimes. As well as using this data to find people who may exhibit sociopathic behavior, this new FBI policy will also help decrease the number of animal abuse cases that occur. The director of the animal law program at Lewis and Clark College, Natasha Dolezal, pointed out that "Regardless of whether people care about how animals are treated, people  --  like legislators and judges  --  care about humans, and they can't deny the data." Whether or not you care about ending animal abuse, this new FBI policy is beneficial to you because it protects you from potentially dangerous people ("The FBI Now Considers Animal Abuse a Class A Felony").

The FBI definition of animal abuse is "intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly taking action that mistreats or kills any animal without just cause, such as torturing, tormenting, mutilation, maiming, poisoning, or abandonment". There are four categories that animal abuse falls under with the FBI's new policy. The felony of animal abuse can be categorized as neglect, intentional abuse, organized abuse, and sexual abuse of animals. However, factory farms tend to be overlooked when it comes to neglect. The punishment for the cruelty towards dogs and cats is not equal to the punishment of cruelty towards animals such as pigs, cows, and chickens. After the new policy, the FBI is beginning to look at the treatment of these other animals as well. In January of 2016, a farmer was convicted for cruelty towards chickens; he kicked and stomped them to death. This shows how the views of animal cruelty are beginning to change; any type of animal cruelty, even to farm animals, is being viewed as more serious and unacceptable. (Itzkowitz).

There is obviously a connection between animal cruelty and sociopathy. There have been numerous studies done that all point to this conclusion. Knowing this allows us to hopefully try and keep an eye on people who have this potential to become a sociopath. Although animal cruelty is horrible and should not occur, at least something useful can come out of it that can hopefully save lives.

