I would add that the way we see this really direct link is first of all, as Ms. Cartwright said, that women will delay leaving situations because of fear for the safety of their animals.
Quite a few veterinary practices and animal welfare organizations have arrangements with domestic violence shelters to take in animals when they can't.... Most shelters will take in animals when the women and the children are there. Veterinarians see that. As far as the link with bestiality is concerned, it's one of the ways that abusers try to control their victims, whether they're animals or children, so both. What is documented, unfortunately, is that abusers will force the child or the spouse to interact with animals in a sexual way to humiliate them, to witness the injury to the animals. The animals, the children and maybe the spouse are vulnerable, so it's all linked to the abuser's approach of trying to control and intimidate the animals. There's a lot of documentation for that.