Lyddy Supporting Partnerships Between Child Protection, Animal Control Agents

By John Voket

In his “day job” as a social worker, Newtown’s State Representative Christopher Lyddy has been exposed to cases of family violence. And he believes there is a strong case to be made for proposed legislation mandating cross-agency reporting between child-abuse investigators and animal control officers when they find something potentially amiss in a home.

If that legislation — HB 5041 — is successfully enacted as proposed, it would make Connecticut only the fifth state in the nation to take such steps to promote child and animal protection as a shared initiative. The General Assembly’s Select Committee on Children is currently considering the bill.

Similar provisions are already in place in California, Colorado, Ohio, and Maine.

Connecticut’s proposal would go a step further, though, by requiring the state Department of Children and Families (DCF) to notify the state Department of Agriculture — which works with local animal control officers — about homes where pets might also be vulnerable to maltreatment. 

“I am in support of [the] initiative and will sign onto the proposed legislation,” Rep Lyddy told The Bee this week. “As a social worker...I think this is a measure worth fighting for.”

Supporters of the proposal say it would give officials, especially those investigating child abuse, a heads-up to cases about which they might otherwise be unaware.

“I think it’s a very good proposal. It’s another check and balance, another set of eyes, and you can’t be too careful when it comes to ensuring the safety of our children,” Connecticut State Child Advocate Jeanne Milstein told the Associated Press.

Rep Lyddy also agrees with animal welfare advocates who say it could also help vulnerable pets, whose abuse and neglect might be a precursor to child abuse or a red flag that it is occurring but well-hidden.

“When all is said and done, violence fuels violence and we must ensure that we take advantage of every opportunity to stifle it, whether it be directed toward people or toward animals,” Rep Lyddy said. “We know that if an animal is being abused or neglected at home that it is more likely that a child or occupant of that home is also being physically, sexually, or psychologically abused as well.”

Public Hearing Expected

The Connecticut legislative proposal is expected to be presented in a public hearing in the next several weeks, and would need the full General Assembly’s approval to go into effect.

Connecticut Department of Children and Families Commissioner Susan Hamilton testified in favor of the idea when lawmakers considered it last year. But it was among scores of bills that never reached the General Assembly for a full vote amid budget debates and other time-consuming controversies.

No one testified last year against the proposal, although the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) has flagged it to its members this year as a bill they should know about.

Kevin Maloney, a spokesman for the CCM, said they do not oppose the bill. But the conference thinks local animal control officers should be allowed to report their findings to one state agency — the Department of Agriculture, for instance — that would then be responsible for communicating with DCF, rather than having the animal control officers try to keep in touch with several state agencies.

Newtown Police Chief Michael Kehoe said he supports the idea in theory, but agreed that some of the specific requirements might need some refining.

“I very much like the concept of early intervention when possible whether someone is abusing/harming animals and children, or placing animals and children at risk,” Chief Kehoe said, adding that he would like to see more safeguards so that animal control officers are not placed in the position of assessing for possible or potential abuse or harm to children.

Rep Lyddy believes any additional duties would quickly become adopted as part of the participating agencies’ protocols.

“Requiring animal control officers and child welfare agencies to communicate about signs of abuse and neglect may be burdensome at first; however, it is a burden I hope would be accepted by all interested parties as the benefits would be long lasting,” he said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation says animal cruelty is one of the behaviors that suggest a person wants to control and intimidate something or someone more vulnerable than they are. FBI reviews dating to the 1970s have found that many imprisoned serial killers tortured or killed animals before their behavior escalated to targeting humans.

Data Suggests Connection

A 1997 study also found that a person who had committed animal abuse was five times more likely to commit violence against people.

The study, conducted by Northeastern University and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, looked at animal abuse cases from 1975 to 1996. It found that 70 percent of the animal abusers had committed at least one other criminal offense, and 40 percent of them had harmed a person.

Connecticut state Representative Diana Urban, D-North Stonington, who is sponsoring the legislation for cross-reporting of animal abuse and child abuse cases, said she thinks it will “break down the silos” between agencies with a lot in common.

Rep Lyddy commended his colleague for “connecting the dots between the issue of family violence, child abuse, and aggression toward animals.”

“We can’t continue to turn a blind eye to the devastating reality of animal abuse and its relationship with abuse between family members,” Rep Lyddy said. “They are interconnected and we have an obligation to intervene from all angles.”

Right now, the animal control officers, or ACOs, and DCF workers may often end up checking conditions in the same troubled home without the benefit of each other’s observations, Rep Urban said.

“If we can get our ACOs and DCF workers talking to each other, that will really heighten the awareness if one of them is seeing something the other should know about,” Rep Urban said. “They’re both watching the atmosphere around the child, or around the animal, and something could click in their head that’s really important.”

Rep Lyddy said targeting violent acts against animals would not only help appropriate officials screen for possible violence against children, it would also provide an early-stage opportunity “to intervene and treat sick individuals who grow into serious violent offenders later in life.”

 

(Associated Press reports were used in this report.)