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subcategories of child cruelty can be delineated, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, and various forms of neglect including lack of supervision and protection, educational and medical neglect, and emotional mistreatment. Added to these direct failures by carers in the nurturing and rearing of children, are those concerns that involve parental behavior in other, more tangential areas, such as their sexual mores or criminal activity outside of the home. Society now has in place a child protection system that, despite its flaws, is adequate to address child maltreatment. However, the same cannot be said for animals. Many people still view animals as property, and this is in fact, their legal status. Although, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is working diligently to protect animals, they are restricted in their ability to intervene, often forced to leave an animal in a less than ideal family situation.
The focus of cruelty toward animals was traditionally on physical harm, primarily the willful infliction of harm, injury, and intended pain, as it is the easiest form of violence to recognize. This definition fails to consider neglect, which accounts for much animal abuse. Though variation exists in anti-cruelty statutes at the state level, there is much similarity and generally the law prohibits any unjustifiable physical pain, suffering, or death of an animal. Of issue however, is that enforcement of laws is weak, legal interpretations vary widely, serious sanctions are rarely imposed upon conviction, and animal protection organizations are often isolated from other social service agencies. Because animal abuse research and its potential association with human violence is still in its early stages, research and publications such as this one are imperative to improve understanding of this social problem.