Dog deliberately run over with vehicle
Ellsworth, ME (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Dec 31, 2004
County: Hancock

Disposition: Not Charged

Person of Interest: Adult

Susan Walsh with her dog Lazlo and some of her farm animals in Ellsworth, Me. Ms. Walsh says that her former husband would harm and even kill their animals as a means of keeping her under his control. But she said she was afraid he would harm the animals on their 32-acre
plot called Blessed Be Farm in Ellsworth, Me.

In the past, she said in a telephone interview yesterday, he had retaliated against her by running over her blind and deaf border collie named Katydid, shooting two sheep and wringing the necks of her prized turkeys. "It wasn't just the cats and the dogs I had, it was the sheep and the
chickens - I was terrified for their welfare," Ms. Walsh, 50, said. "I knew if I were to leave, he wouldn't hesitate to kill them. He had done it before."

Experts on domestic violence say accounts like that of Ms. Walsh, who is now divorced, are not unusual. They say many men who abuse wives or girlfriends threaten or harm their animals to coerce or control the women. To address the problem, Maine's governor, John Baldacci, signed a bill yesterday that allows animals to be included in protection orders in domestic violence cases.
"Many national studies on victims of domestic violence tell us that their abusers have threatened to kill, threatened to harm or actually harmed their pets as a means of keeping the victim from leaving the relationship," Mr. Baldacci, a Democrat, said. "With this new law, we hope to help remove another tool for emotional and physical violence used by the abuser to exert power and control over their victims."

Maine is believed to be the first state with such a law. But the issue has captured attention around the country as police departments, domestic-violence programs, animal protection societies and state officials become increasingly aware of a link between domestic violence and animal abuse.

References

• New York Times - April 1, 2006

« ME State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Hancock County, ME

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