Washington State Supreme Court Rules Animal Abuse Can Constitute Domestic Violence
A Litigation Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM Pasado's Safe Haven
February 2022

This ruling is a positive step forward for improving how the legal system addresses crimes against animals. We are hopeful that this will ensure further protection for victims and shed more light on the grave correlation between violence against humans and violence against animals.

Dog Bucky
Bucky who was brutally killed in 2010 in a domestic violence case. In memory of Bucky, Pasado’s Safe Haven launched the Bucky Award, an annual recognition to raise awareness about crimes against animals and to recognize the officers and prosecutors who do exceptional work on these difficult cases.

The evidence is clear – there is a link between acts of cruelty to animals and domestic violence. This is why we applaud the Washington Supreme Court’s recent acknowledgment that those who commit crimes against animals are likely to harm other humans.

On February 17, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that animal abuse can constitute domestic violence. This ruling was issued in a case involving a Tukwila man who was convicted for brutally beating his girlfriend’s dog, Mona, to death in 2018. This important ruling not only makes additional protections, such as no-contact orders, available for victims in these crimes, but it also acknowledges the significant link between domestic violence and animal cruelty.

Domestic violence situations are extremely volatile and can be uniquely dangerous for animals living in the household. Perpetrators often torture or kill animals as a way to inflict emotional pain on their partners because they know how much these animals are loved. Pasado’s Safe Haven has been involved in numerous cases involving domestic violence where we rescued animals from serious harm at the hands of a partner. We have witnessed firsthand the brutality of these cases and the damaging impact of violence on the animal and human victims involved.

This ruling is a positive step forward for improving how the legal system addresses crimes against animals. We are hopeful that this will ensure further protection for victims and shed more light on the grave correlation between violence against humans and violence against animals.

This ruling also comes at the beginning of The Animal Legal Defense Fund’s National Justice for Animals Week, an annual event to raise public awareness around crimes committed against animals. By raising awareness about animal cruelty and understanding its deep connection to violence against people, we will improve the way our criminal justice system treats both human and animal victims caught in cycles of domestic and family violence. Washington’s Supreme Court decision represents an important step forward that will no doubt save lives.


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