It is my belief that a lot of cat abuse crime is carried out by young men who have mental health issues. They require treatment as much as they do punishment. Mental health treatment diversion may reduce crime among young men in general. I believe that the outdoor cat, either domestic or stray, is vulnerable to casual crime by youths whose mental health is sub-optimal or worse.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
A story online today supports my assertion. I don’t want to write about it but I will refer to it. It allegedly concerns a young man who has been named as Muhammad Najwan Zulkefli. He’s 24 years of age and he allegedly drowned three cats in washing machines at a laundromat in Kepong. Security cameras recorded his cat abuse. He appears to have been caught red-handed. He is unemployed and he has pleaded not guilty at his first court appearance. The prosecution has requested that the accused should be sent to hospital to be tested for mental health issues. It appears to be a copycat cat killing as I recall something similar taking place a while ago which was well-publicised. The key element is the mental health of this young man. [source of story: astroawani.com]
Associated
Research paper
An American research paper by Alison Evans Cuellar, Larkin S. McReynolds and Gail A. Wasserman entitled A Cure for Crime: Can Mental Health Treatment Diversion Reduce Crime among Youth? is published online. The scientists found that “the most common mental disorder in the combined sample is substance abuse disorder (38.8 percent), followed by disruptive disorder (38.1 percent), anxiety disorder (32.1 percent), and affective disorder (18.4 percent). These are quite high numbers. They found that “mental health diversion can be used effectively to delay or prevent youth recidivism”. Recidivism is the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend.
Cannabis
I believe that there is substantial percentage of, primarily, young men in the UK who regularly smoke cannabis during work. I go for walks daily. Routinely I smell cannabis in the air if I am in a park. Or if I cross the street in the early hours while people are going to work. There seems to be a crisis in the making. Smoking cannabis is a crime in the UK but because the police do absolutely nothing about it it has become legalised by default.
Cannabis or marijuana is the most commonly used illegal substance in the US and the problem is growing. There are risks for users especially youth and young adults. Today’s marijuana is stronger than before. People can become addicted to it. Marijuana can cause a loss in IQ of eight points if it is used from an early age. The loss of IQ points cannot be recovered even after quitting smoking marijuana. The drug can cause depression, psychosis and anxiety. I believe it can lead to other drugs. [source: samhsa.gov]
And as stated, I believe that a substantial proportion of abuse against vulnerable cats is carried out by young men who are abusing substances such as marijuana. The drug causes them to lose rational thought. Perhaps they want to express their anger through the abuse of an animal.
Conclusion
I would like to see a study conducted on the subject of the percentage of youths convicted of abuse against cats who suffer from mental health issues due to drugtaking.
