There are so many reasons why people find the need to abuse animals. Animal abuse/cruelty covers a wide range of actions or even a lack of action. Each type of abuse shows certain patterns of behavior that we can use to help understand more about why people commit the crimes we encounter today. There are three main categories for animal cruelty: active and passive.

Passive Cruelty (acts of omission)

Passive cruelty is typified by cases of neglect, where the crime is a lack of action rather than the action itself - however do not let the terminology fool you. Severe animal neglect can cause incredible pain and suffering to an animal.

Examples of neglect are starvation, dehydration, parasite infestations, allowing a collar to grow into an animal’s skin, inadequate shelter in extreme weather conditions, and failure to seek veterinary care when an animal needs medical attention.

Active Cruelty (acts of comission)

Active cruelty implies malicious intent, where a person has deliberately and intentionally caused harm to an animal, and is sometimes referred to as non-accidental injury. Acts of intentional cruelty are often some of the most disturbing and should be considered signs of serious psychological problems. This type of behavior is often associated with sociopath behavior and should be taken very seriously.