This innovative and prescient book offers a multidisciplinary framework which reconceptualizes maltreated animals as crime victims. Articulating more active and involved responses to animal maltreatment, Animals as Crime Victims provides guidance to attorneys, law enforcement personnel, veterinarians, and educators by reimagining how animals are positioned within the law.

Murdering Animals confronts the speciesism underlying the disparate social censures of homicide and “theriocide” (the killing of animals by humans), and as such, is a plea to take animal rights seriously. Its substantive topics include the criminal prosecution and execution of justiciable animals in early modern Europe; images of hunters put on trial by their prey in the upside-down world of the Dutch Golden Age; the artist William Hogarth’s patriotic depictions of animals in 18th Century London; and the playwright J.M. Synge’s representation of parricide in fin de siècle Ireland. Combining insights from intellectual history, the history of the fine and performing arts, and what is known about today’s invisibilised sites of animal killing, Murdering Animals inevitably asks: should theriocide be considered murder? With its strong multi- and interdisciplinary approach, this work of collaboration will appeal to scholars of social and species justice in animal studies, criminology, sociology and law.

In this book, Nik Taylor and Heather Fraser consider how we might better understand human-animal companionship in the context of domestic violence. The authors advocate an intersectional feminist understanding, drawing on a variety of data from numerous projects they have conducted with people, about their companion animals and links between domestic violence and animal abuse, arguing for a new understanding that enables animals to be constituted as victims of domestic violence in their own right. The chapters analyse the mutual, loving connections that can be formed across species, and in households where there is domestic violence. Companion Animals and Domestic Violence also speaks to the potentially soothing, healing and recovery oriented aspects of human-companion animal relationships before, during and after the violence, and will be of interest to various academic disciplines including social work, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, geography, as well as to professionals working in domestic violence or animal welfare service provision.

Restorative justice aims to address the consequences of crime by encouraging victims and offenders to communicate and discuss the harm caused by the crime that has been committed. In the majority of cases, restorative justice is facilitated by direct and indirect dialogue between victims and offenders, but it also includes support networks and sometimes involves professionals such as police, lawyers, social workers or prosecutors and judges. In theory, the victim is a core participant in restorative justice and the restoration of the harm is a first concern. In practice, questions arise as to whether the victim is actively involved in the process, what restoration may entail, whether there is a risk of secondary victimisation and whether the victim is truly at the heart of the restorative response, or whether the offender remains the focal point of attention. Using a combination of victimological literature and empirical data from a European research project, this book considers the role and the position of the victim in restorative justice practices, focusing on legislative, organisational and institutional frameworks of victim-offender mediation and conferencing programmes at a national and local level, as well as the victims’ personal needs and experiences. The findings are essential reading for academics and students engaged in the study of justice, victimology and law. The publication will also be valuable to policymakers and professionals such as social workers, lawyers and mediators.

Contains 46 articles by various authors concerned with cruelty to animals and how that relates to violent human relations.

Mahatma Gandhi said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Since civil societies are ruled by law, they can be evaluated, both figuratively and literally, by how animals are treated in the criminal justice system. This book depicts animals' roles within society and the laws that govern how humans treat them. Carmen M. Cusack focuses on current issues in human-animal relationships and how these are affected by the criminal justice system. Her analysis, while objective, is rooted in first-hand activist, professional, legal, and criminal justice experience. She presents a comprehensive overview of the place of animals and the law, including pets in prison, K-9 units, constitutional rights, animal sacrifice, wild animals, entertainment, domestic violence, rehabilitation, history, and religion. She includes information about law, behavioural and social science, systemic responses and procedure, anecdotal evidence, current events, and theoretical considerations. Animals and Criminal Justice is a useful handbook and a thorough textbook, as well as a practical guide to animals' relationships with the criminal justice system. Professionals, including police, child protective services, judges, animal control officers, and corrections staff, as well as scholars in the fields of criminal justice and criminology will find this book invaluable.

Animal Cruelty Investigations: A Collaborative Approach from Victim to Verdict provides a framework for the experts who respond to animal cruelty cases: veterinarians, law enforcement agencies, animal care and control organizations, and prosecutors. This book is a practical guide which provides insight and direction for every phase of an animal cruelty investigation. The step-by-step guidance on responding to particular issues and challenges related to animal cruelty cases is bolstered by the extensive library of checklists, form templates, specific case protocols, and lists of available resources. This book is designed to empower readers to respond to animal cruelty cases confidently and effectively by: Introducing veterinarians to their critical role in animal cruelty investigations including forensic examination and necropsy, crime scene response, report writing, and testimony. Included are detailed Specific Case Protocols for common animal cruelty scenarios. Helping animal shelters navigate the challenges of holding animals in protective custody, housing unusual species, and placing evidence animals in foster care. Offering law enforcement agencies useful methods for investigating animal cruelty such as search and seizure protocols, witness interview techniques, and valuable forms and templates necessary to strengthen and ensure proper search warrant execution, evidence collection and handling, and chain of custody; all with a focus on animals as both victims and evidence. Guiding prosecutors through the steps necessary to utilize the veterinarian’s findings during trial and providing insight into issues to be considered when reviewing search warrants, filing charges, proposing plea agreements, or filing pre-conviction forfeiture motions. This book is a must-have reference and guide for veterinarians, technicians, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and all those involved in the protection of animals’ health and wellbeing. The successful investigation of animal crimes relies on each of these disciplines, not only carrying out their professional duties, but having a collective understanding of what each other needs in order to meet that expectation.