OAA’s Executive Director Vicki Deisner, alongside with Dr. Aviva Vincent, Associate Professor of Social Work at Cleveland State University, and Stephen Heaven, President/CEO of Toledo Humane presented on the link between animal and human violence to law enforcement, prosecutors and attorneys at the Ohio Peace Officers Training Academy (OPOTA) annual conference 10/24/23 hosted by the Ohio Attorney General.
As community violence, such as domestic violence and mass shootings, increases, it is critical to identify that animal abuse is a gateway crime to the escalation of human violence. Over 43% of school shooters have a history of animal abuse. When you save a pet, you often save a family and even a community.
