Animal cruelty may point to child abuse

Helen Tobler in The Australian reports:

Thousands of instances of child abuse could be uncovered through mandatory reporting of animal cruelty at the hands of children, he said.

Professor Ascione said research had shown that children who were abused were more likely to mistreat animals, possibly as a way of “acting out” the abuse they had experienced or to regain power over something more powerless than themselves.

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