The LINK™

The Animal Assistance Foundation is a founding member of the Colorado Alliance for Cruelty Prevention (CACP), which is sponsored by the Colorado Bar Association.

CACP is an alliance of professionals in the state of Colorado educating themselves and other professionals about the LINK^TM between animal abuse and family violence.

Past studies have shown that in 88 percent of the homes where animals are abused, there is also child abuse or domestic violence. Cruelty to animals may be one of the first symptoms of conduct disorders to appear in young children; earlier than bullying, cruelty to people, vandalism, or arson.

Outside the family itself, professionals involved in civil and criminal justice, child maltreatment, and animal welfare often are the first to observe abuse. In many circumstances, if properly dealt with, recognizing and responding to the abuse of one victim could actually identify a violence problem before there are additional victims.

The Alliance helps first responders, prosecutors, judges, social workers and others on the front line build a resource base and create awareness and skills in recognizing and responding to such incidents. The Alliance also helps treatment providers develop improved treatment programs for animal abusers. CACP offers free training to professional groups interested in learning more about the LINK^TM between animal abuse and family violence.

AAF is currently (August 2008) seeking grant proposals for the development of an educational syllabus on the LINK^TM between human violence and animal abuse to be implemented in Colorado. The goal is to incorporate this training into the curricula for social workers, forensic clinicians, and therapists. An additional component will be a resource guide.

Examples of Grants: American Humane was awarded $5,000 for training in Colorado in 2005 and CACP received $5,000 for training that same year.