By Patrick Baron
BLOOMINGTON – A humane society investigator says animal abuse is not common in McLean County despite two recent cases.
One case concerns a man who allegedly killed his two dogs by placing them in a garage with a running car. The other deals with a woman who supposedly left her dog in the frigid cold for two days.
Kim Miller, an investigator with the Humane Society of Central Illinois, said while there has been a slight increase in animal abuse nationwide, the two cases close to home are anomalies.
“We’re seeing a little bit more, not so much locally, thank goodness, but there does seem to an uptick in [animal cruelty cases] a bit,” Miller explained. “But there also seems to be an uptick in prosecuting those cases, which is good.”
However, Miller highlighted an apparent correlation between animal cruelty cases and human abuse. She said while not all animal abusers will harm other people, they are more likely to display violent behavior towards others.
“There is a strong correlation between those two events, and maybe it’s just a desensitivity to harming other animals, other creatures, including people,” said Miller.
Miller explained if you see something that looks like animal abuse, you should contact the police or animal control.
Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].
