ABSTRACT
This chapter contributes to the development of a nonspeciesist criminology. It considers a variety of arguments about why theory and research on animal abuse should be developed by criminologists. The chapter discusses a variety of arguments about why animal abuse is an important object of study for criminology and why theory and research on it should be developed. It explains whether existing criminal law can provide an objective basis for a nonspeciesist approach to animal abuse in criminology. If existing criminal law is an inadequate basis for the study of animal abuse, perhaps it can be secured by considering the suffering intentionally inflicted on other species by us humans. The chapter outlines various arguments why, sui generis, animal abuse is a legitimate and important object of study. It concludes that animal abuse is an important object of study for criminology not only sui generis but also because its presence may indicate or predict situations of interhuman violence.
