13 Sep 2011

Links between abuse of children and animals studied

9:26 am on 13 September 2011

The SPCA has received a $100,000 grant to study links between cruelty to animals and family violence.

SPCA chief executive Robyn Kippenberger says it is common for women and children to stay in abusive homes because a partner has threatened to harm their pets if they leave.

She says cases such as a man who was convicted in 2010 for twisting the head off a kitten at the dinner table are not isolated.

The study, funded by the Community Sector Research Committee, is surveying 24 women's refuges and will finish in November.