A teenage boy lights a cigarette and takes a few drags. Then like a hatpin, he shoves the smoldering stick into the white fur of a large rabbit, searing its pink skin. The rabbit kicks and screams as the boy restrains it, prodding it again and again with the lit tip. Amused by the rabbit’s reaction, the boy grabs a can of lighter fluid and pours the sour liquid over the rabbit. He strikes a match and ignites the fur.

The rabbit is found the next day, its skin charred and bloody, its ears melted and its soft white fur now a vomitous orange. A rabbit rescue shelter in Mill Valley, CA called SaveABunny nurses the rabbit back to health, naming him Phoenix, after the mythical bird that rose from the ashes. In the meantime, SaveABunny makes his story public, hoping it will help find the perpetrator of this heinous crime.

In 2003, the Humane Society of the United States recorded 1,373 cases of animal cruelty in the United States. However, this number is inaccurate because not all cases are reported or tracked, according to the HSUS. From neglect to extreme acts of violence, scores of house pets and the like are abused every year, which is why numerous organizations and shelters have been formed to rescue and rehabilitate animal victims, as well as their human abusers.

A Database of Violence

On October 16, 2001, a black cat named Bert was kidnapped from her home in Del Mar, California. The kidnapper drove the cat 15 miles out of town then set her on fire with a Molotov cocktail. Two days later in an emergency veterinary hospital, Bert died of third degree burns, internal bleeding and kidney failure.

In response to this event, Alison Gianotto launches Pet-Abuse.com, an organization that researches and tracks animal cruelty cases internationally. So far the Animal Cruelty Database has recorded 9,200 incidents, the majority occurring in the United States. 1,578 cases were reported in 2006 – 111 of those cases in California.

“We get information from the media, law enforcement, district attorneys – pretty much any reliable source we can find,” says Gianotto.

The information acquired by Pet-Abuse’s Animal Abuse Registry Database Administration System (AARDAS) is carefully analyzed. Who was involved? What kind of animal? Was it part of a domestic dispute? Was the animal off-leash or roaming free? Was the animal stolen? Elements like this allow for specific information to be quickly pulled from the database, from revealing trends in types of abuse to providing the names of convicted abusers.

“We take a look at each of these different facets to try and learn more about the patterns of abuse so that hopefully we can try and prevent them,” says Gianatto.

Gianotto notes that neglect is the most common form of abuse reported. Hoarding cases are also on the increase, but the cases involving violence are truly the most horrific. A German Shepard doused in battery acid. A small kitten repeatedly thrown against a wall. A koi fish snatched from its pond, beaten and barbecued as a fraternity prank. A rabbit sealed in a plastic bag and left in a classroom cupboard to die over the weekend.

“We get a lot of shooting cases, a lot of poisoning cases, and a lot of those situations are animals who are loose in the neighborhood and have made a nuisance of themselves,” says Gianotto. “That type of abuse in particular is so tragic because it’s so preventable.”

The data from the AARDAS reflects that adults are the chief perpetrators in animal abuse cases, however, reports of child involvement are becoming more common. Though, Gianotto doesn’t necessarily attribute the increase of child violence against animals to the number of acts. She believes the public is becoming more educated about what animal abuse is, and that it’s not a “boys will be boys” situation.

“The [cases] involving children are just devastating,” she says. “We like to believe that children are born and raised with compassion, and it becomes more disturbing, I think, when a young child takes any kind of really deliberate violent action.”

To the Rescue

Officer Ellie Sadler walks up to the door of a beautiful home set in a nice area of San Francisco. She’s reporting to a call of animal neglect made by a neighbor, though she has a feeling the call is bogus. The sight of the home reinforces that thought. She’s let into the backyard to investigate and discovers an unnerving sight. What she expected to be two sleeping dogs are actually two corpses, emaciated from weeks of starvation. And adding to the demoralizing scene is the fact the owners are completely oblivious to their pets’ demise.

“That was one of the worst [cases] that made me cry,” Sadler says, recollecting some of the most awful instances of animal cruelty she’s encountered. Officer Sadler works for San Francisco Animal Care & Control, a government run agency that rescues and shelters abused, neglected and abandoned animals. Every day is different for her – the beat she patrols, the calls she receives, and the cases she reports to. But her hours remain the same.

From 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. she’s patrolling the southern side of San Francisco, from Lake Merced to Bayview. So far this day isn’t quite as bad as the afore mentioned case. She picks up animals on the street that have been struck by cars, then investigates a junkyard where she finds a dog with a large scab on his face – it looks like a stab wound. Sadler leaves a message for the owner to call by noon the next day or she’ll be back to take the dog. She hopes the owner won’t call.

“Why would you have an animal and buy food for it if you don’t care for it or you don’t want anything to do with it?”, Officer Sadler wonders.

ACC must take every animal they find in a poor environment. Those that can be adopted out are listed on their website. Others that are seriously ill or have major behavioral problems and cannot be rehabilitated are humanely euthanized. But in the fifteen years that ACC has been active, Sadler has noticed a steady decline of the animal intake

“Even when it’s really bad I can still feel like I’m making a difference,” Sadler says. “And those few times I can’t make a difference – that’s when I get really upset.”

Animal Abuse Rehab

In the late 1980’s a number of states passed legislation requiring animal abusers to undergo treatment. In California, abusing an animal is a felony, and a person can be imprisoned and/or fined up to $20,000 for the crime. Psychological counseling is also mandatory. The Animals & Society Institute created AniCare in 1998, a set of rehabilitative sessions modeled after domestic violence programs. There are two programs, one for adults and one for children, because their psychological reasons for abuse differ.

“The major issue with adults in this area is that they usually deny accountability or responsibility,” says Kenneth Shapiro, Co-Executive Director of the Animals & Society Institute. “They develop extensive stories to justify what they did. So one of the first things we do in treatment is challenge that.”

The AniCare Adult consists of 10-12 group intervention sessions that focus on cognitive behavior – developing skills, emotional intelligence and problem solving techniques to replace violent actions. Each group has around 20 individuals working together with counselors and a supplemental manual to identify seven important concepts for rehabilitation – accountability, respect/freedom, reciprocity, accommodation, empathy, attachment and nurturance. Role play is an integral part of understanding these concepts in AniCare Adult, allowing them to understand what an animal goes through when it’s abused.

AniCare Child has a different approach.

“The child approach is much more reliant on non-verbal kinds of techniques,” Shapiro says. “Puppetry, drawings and interactive drawings where the counselor draws something then the kid draws something and you build up a story that way. And definitely teaching empathy…problem solving skills, emotional intelligence and what we call the executive function – realizing consequences.”

After clients complete either program, they are evaluated and data is recorded to be sure the programs are working. The AniCare program will soon be available online, turning the workshops into six-hour modules for individuals. Clients will still have to interact with trainers and participate in role play situations, but the program will accommodate more people and be more accessible.

Somebunny to Love

While walking her dog near Highway 1, Marcy Schaaf stumbled across a stray rabbit hiding in the bushes. The brown and white bunny was tame but too shy to let Schaaf approach her. Knowing the tame animal would not be able to survive in the wild, Schaaf came back with a blanket, a radish and some dog food to capture the rabbit.

"I knew so little at that time; I didn't even know they we're herbivores," says Schaaf. "Once I found this bunny, I started to educate myself."

That was the beginning of SaveABunny, a non-profit rabbit rescue organization run out of Schaaf's Mill Valley home. Rabbits are the third most euthanized animal next to dogs and cats, according to the ASPCA, and Schaaf is dedicated to providing abandoned or abused rabbits with better lives. Having recently converted her art studio into a rabbit hospice, SaveABunny also takes in critically injured or special needs bunnies.

"It's expensive to do, it's time consuming and it's heartbreaking," says Schaaf. "But it's also incredibly rewarding because these are the animals that have absolutely no other chance."

One of the first injured rabbits Schaaf aided had broken its back, paralyzing its back legs and rendering it incontinent. After her experience in caring for and bonding with the rabbit, Schaaf began to take in more special needs bunnies. Lilac had mammary and uterine tumors. Flynn had been ripped apart by a dog and his wounds sealed with glue. Melody was malnourished and physically abused. Potato, new to SaveABunny, is suffering from a malocclusion, or misalignment of teeth, which his previous owners failed to recognize. As a result, Potato's front teeth will need to be pulled.
"Each [rabbit] has a very distinct personality…they're all unique, they all have something of value and they're all deserving of being loved," says Schaaf. "And each one of them that I can't get, which is a lot of them, they're all worthy of not having died because someone didn't want them."

Happy Tails

A beagle-dachshund mix happily approaches the front of his apartment on Lassie Lane, wagging his long tail so vigorously it makes his entire backside sway. Across the way, another beagle named Andy sleeps peacefully near a bay window. Down on Catnip Circle, a few feline roommates nap in the sunlight or play on their climbing tree. Next door, a large black cat named Tank meticulously grooms himself.

This neighborhood belongs to the dogs and cats living at the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty for Animals (SF/SPCA). Designed to resemble a quaint San Francisco street, with Victorian architecture and large bay windows, the adoption area provides a welcoming atmosphere for people looking to bring a new companion into their homes.

The SF/SPCA works closely with Animal Care & Control and other Bay Area shelters through a program called LifeLinks.

“We go out to shelters out of the county and we get dogs and cats from there,” says Public Information Specialist, Christine Rosenblat. “A lot of the shelters out in the countryside are overburdened, especially the rural shelters because spay/neuter is not as common in rural areas as it is in the cities.”

Every single animal that comes through the SF/SPCA is spayed or neutered, an operation they strongly encourage to help control the pet population. Even the public can have their cat or dog fixed for a fee ranging from $43 to $120.

“Our intake on the whole is going down,” says Rosenblat. “Especially in San Francisco because we have been aggressively promoting spay/neuter for a number of years.”

Phoenix sits quietly on Marcy Schaaf's living room couch while Schaaf lovingly strokes his head. His wounds have healed but his scars are still visible. Where his ears should be are two small holes, the result of loosing both from the fire. But he has learned to trust humans again thanks to Schaaf's care and attention.

"I always pet him as though his still has ears," she says as Phoenix shuts his eyes.