ABSTRACT
This chapter examines research on the co-occurrence of domestic violence and animal abuse, identifying and discussing key themes in the literature over the past 25 years. These themes include the documentation of a sizable rate of co-occurrence of animal maltreatment and DV among shelter samples and, more recently, among a representative sample of a national population; establishing a relationship between animal maltreatment and characteristics of abusive relationships, notably controlling behaviour, abuse frequency and severity; descriptions of significant impacts of witnessing animal maltreatment on abused women and children; documented barriers to help-seeking among human victims/survivors, and as a consequence, efforts by service providers to reduce barriers to leaving an abusive partner that are confronted by DV victims/survivors with pets; and what is known about perpetrators who harm intimate partners and their relationships with animals in the home. The current challenges facing this field of research are identified and recommendations are made for responding to these challenges via future lines of enquiry.
