Teaching New Zealand Kids to Kill Animals Is Very Worrisome

Important update: Why an animal abuse registry would protect all of us. More information on "the link" between violence toward nonhumans and violence toward humans

Why violence toward animals is something to worry about, in addition to the cruelty shown toward the animals themselves:

“Animal abuse does not inevitably lead to interpersonal violence but we must come to a better understanding of the circumstances in which it does — for the sake of both animals and people.” —Frank Ascione

Yesterday I received two email messages that were very related, although many people might be surprised that I write this given their respective titles. The first message informed me about a short video called "Ngahere Toa" which translates into a phrase "Warriors of the Forest." The second message called attention to an essay in the Washington Post titled "Fla. shooting suspect had a history of explosive anger, depression, killing animals" in which we learn, "The killing began with the squirrels. As a fourth-grader, Nikolas Cruz would try to bloody them with his pellet gun. Then he started going after chickens." Dogs and rabbits were also victimized (for more on this, please see "Florida High School Shooter Bragged About Killing Animals").

After I talked with a few people about this, they encouraged me to write this short essay, once again calling attention to a phenomenon called "the link" in which it's stressed that there is a relationship between violence toward nonhuman animals (animals) and violence toward humans. I write more about this in an essay titled "The Link Between Violence Toward Nonhuman Animals and Humans" in which I also note that the man who killed 26 people in a horrific church shooting in Texas had been cited for cruelty to animals (please also see "Gunman claimed to buy animals for practice"). For those interested, there are many references in my essay that offer much more information about "the link."

In this same essay, I wrote, "I talked with a few people about 'the link' and just how robust and predictive the relationship between violence toward animals (VTA) and violence toward humans (VTH) truly is. While it's surely not a 1:1 ratio, and prior VTA does not inevitably lead to VTH, many people see a very strong relationship, and the case of the alleged Texas shooter is another data point that can be added to the pile. Dr. Frank Ascione, one of the world's leaders in studying "the link," also agrees and notes how both animals and people will benefit from learning more about it (you can read more about Dr. Ascione and his numerous books and essays here). Nonetheless, there are compelling data showing that there is a strong association between animal and human abuse. Sadly, more data points get added over time.

Returning to the "Ngahere Toa" video, here is a very good and short example of New Zealand youngsters being taught to kill other animals, in this case possums, who are demeaningly labeled as "pests" or "non-natives." There are some very graphic scenes that are rather disturbing, as is the glee that some of the kids show when talking about the killing or showing off possum corpses. It's clear that some of the kids enjoy setting the traps, killing the possums, and displaying the corpses of these "ugly animals," whereas others aren't so sure they like what they're being told to do.

These killing sprees and blood baths are part of New Zealand's goal of becoming predator-free by 2050. The slaughter is claimed to be "in the name of conservation." Some of the youngsters in the video say they're doing it, because whole forests will be destroyed if the possums aren't killed, as if this is a fact. Others claim that they're doing it to save native New Zealand wildlife. For more discussion about why there are many questions surrounding this claim, please see "Is Killing Introduced Predators 'Absolutely Necessary'?" in which it's stressed by scientists and others that the decision to try to return New Zealand to what it used to be by brutally slaughtering millions of non-native invasive animals by 2050 is troubling from both a biological and ethical perspective. New Zealand ecosystems will not be returned to what they used to be, for this is an impossible conservation goal. Ecosystems evolve and are dynamic entities. In many cases non-native animals have become part of a wide variety of ecosystems, so their loss will effect the ecosystems as a whole, and they don't go back to what they used to be.

Possible long-term effects of teaching violence toward nonhuman animals

This link, despite being well-known to police and lawmakers, is still not always taken seriously enough. ...The connection is inarguable. It’s incumbent upon us to act on it.

I'm not alone in feeling very concerned about the sanctioned teaching of youngsters to harm and to kill other animals. For more discussion, please see "Long-Term Effects of Violence Toward Animals by Youngsters," "Imprinting Kids for Violence Toward Animals," and "Violence Toward Animals: 'Can You Please Help My Daughter?'" The last essay was sent to me by a mother whose daughter did not want to kill animals as part of her education. These essays also contain many links showing other examples of youngsters receiving incredibly disturbing, inhumane education that could have long-term effects.

One topic about which I also write centers on the prevalence of domestic violence in New Zealand.¹ There are very good reasons besides this grave situation to be concerned about the long-term effects of imprinting youngsters to harm and to kill other animals, and taken together, all New Zealanders should find teaching youngsters to be intentionally cruel to other animals deeply worrisome. For example, a study conducted by Northeastern University in Boston and the Massachusetts SPCA "found that people who abuse animals are five times as likely to commit violent crimes against humans." In another long-term study "70% of people who abused animals went on to commit other crimes, about two-thirds also assaulted a human, and 100% of those who were guilty of sexual homicide had a history of cruelty to animals."

I hope that more attention will focus on "the link," so that New Zealand does not create future generations of individuals who feel that it's perfectly okay to harm and to kill other animals, not only for the nonhuman's sake, but also for the safety of humans. This isn't asking too much.

¹The website for Women's Refuge states, "Domestic violence is a major human rights issue across the world, and one of New Zealand’s most serious social issues. One in three women in Aotearoa will experience some form of abuse within their relationship, with many more coming dangerously close." Another report published in December 2014 calls domestic violence in New Zealand "an epidemic," while another essay published on March 21, 2017, notes that while there is much to be proud of in New Zealand, the fact is that New Zealand has "the highest rates of family violence in the developed world."