Adult Protective Services and Animal Welfare: Should Animal Abuse and Neglect Be Assessed During Adult Protective Services Screening?

• NCJ Number: 238106
• Journal: Journal of Elder Abuse Volume: 24 Issue: 1 Dated: January - March 2012 Pages: 37-49
• Author(s): Terry Peak M.S.W., Ph.D.; Frank Ascione Ph.D.; Jylisa Doney
• Date Published: January 2012
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines elder abuse and animal welfare.

Abstract

Past research has examined links among animal abuse, child maltreatment, and intimate partner violence and demonstrated the importance of addressing the needs of both human and animal victims. The authors hypothesized that there might be a similar link between animal abuse and older adult welfare issues. As a first step in the earlier research was the development of a screening protocol that shed light on the link between domestic violence and animal abuse, the authors decided to follow a similar route to explore this new topic by asking State government representatives about their experiences, if any, with this topic. Here the authors report the results of a national survey of State Adult Protective Services agencies regarding their protocols for assessing animal welfare issues in the context of older adult maltreatment. The authors also describe a model assessment protocol we developed in collaboration with the Utah Division of Aging and Adult Services. (Published Abstract)