As the government, social workers, police and media all try to figure out who’s to blame for the death of seventeen-month-old Baby P, there is one fact that shines above it all, for us here at PETA:

The mother’s boyfriend, who has not been named, reportedly enjoyed torturing animals, and has been described by police as “fascinated with pain”.

Jurors at the Old Bailey heard that, as a child, he enjoyed torturing guinea pigs and frogs – skinning them alive before breaking their legs. Had this been addressed over the years, perhaps this tragedy could have been avoided, and he would not have had a chance to carry out such incredible violence on this little boy. This violence includes eight broken ribs, a broken back and the missing top of a finger, not to mention unimaginable emotional damage. Animal abusers are cowards who take their issues out on “easy victims”. Reports have found that a history of cruelty to animals is a regular feature of serial rapists and murderers.

Read more about the inevitable link between child and animal abuse here.

Alexia’s back, ready and raring to go! Tune in your radios or turn your computer speakers up, people – here’s a program you won’t want to miss. On BBC Radio 4 tonight at 8pm, ‘File on 4′ examines the link between child and animal abuse – a worrying subject, and one that concerns the PETA Foundation a great deal.

The link between all abuse – by people of all ages, against people and animals of all ages – has been documented throughout history and one only has to look at the headlines each day to see the connection. Animal abuse shows a deep mental disturbance in the abuser. Research in psychology and criminology shows that people who commit acts of cruelty to animals don’t stop there (as if that wasn’t bad enough). Many move onto make humans their victims and it is thought that animals make the perfect “practice” victims as they can do little to fight back. Cruelty to animals, if left unchecked can escalate and it’s something that all people should be aware of.

Did you know that child killers Mary Bell, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables and multiple-victim killers Ian Huntley, Thomas Hamilton (Dunblane massacre), Fred West, Denis Nilsen, Ian Brady and Jeffrey Dahmer all started out by deliberately harming animals?

So what do the lovely people at the PETA Foundation do to try and stop this in its tracks? Well, they believe that many acts of violence can be prevented if we all simply teach kindness and compassion towards animals from an early age. Whenever reported cases of cruelty to animals reach them, they respond by sending information to schools in the area about why the education system should teach humane lessons in the classroom. In 2007, the PETA Foundation responded to 86 cases of cruelty to animals across the UK and sent out information and 2,641 humane-education packs to schools. Yes!

So, what will you be doing at 8pm tonight, huh? If you don’t catch it, make sure you visit the BBC’s ‘listen again’ page.

Image: Amorak / CC

Childhood obesity is still hot news around the world, but do parents realise that feeding their kids meat could be a cause? Take a look at this controversial interview PETA did with Friction TV last year about our campaign ‘Feeding Kids Meat is Child Abuse’ – sure fitness is important in fighting the flab but ditching animal products is another major factor. Listen up mums and dads!