Animals and Children

Animals are such a big resource in our lives, and especially for children. During my work, I have seen many children (adults too) open up when animals are around them. Children learn responsibility, and love, and many understand that animals are not judgmental; the love they give is unconditional. But I have also learned that if we don’t involve children in programs with animals, they will many times abuse animals themselves.

Some abusing parents, who discovered that their child was fond of a pet, would many times emotionally abuse their child even more. The abuser had found another vulnerable spot, to torture their child’s pet, and loved to see the child’s anxiety level rise yet higher. Children that are very affectionate with animals will do anything to protect their animal.
In one case, an abused daughter begged her father to hit her rather than her puppy. Instead, the father killed the puppy. Her begging was a payoff for him.

One day a client came to me with his dog and asked why the dog ran in circles trying to bite his tail all the time. I found out that the dog was abused while in discipline training. He was so overstressed and did this to forget the outside world. The owner had the tail surgically removed, but the behavior continued