The Links Group trustee David Martin and Naturewatch Foundation‘s Campaign Manager Mark Randell combined forces to great effect on Tuesday 15th October to speak at Eurogroup for Animals‘ Cat and Dog Working Group online meeting about protecting human and animal victims of domestic abuse.  

EU Directive 2024/1385 on combating violence against women and domestic violence was adopted in May 2024, and Member States have until 14th May 2027 to transpose this Directive into national law.  Eurogroup for Animals successfully lobbied to have an explicit mention on companion animals included in Recital 39

Although Recitals do not have the same legal force as the operative provisions, they play a crucial role in understanding the purpose and context of the Directive.  Eurogroup for Animals is a pan-European animal protection organisation working in this field for over 40 years, and has 101 members on the continent.

Dave and Mark were invited to present on the link between abuse of animals and abuse of people.  Dave spoke about The Crisis Link Between Animals and People, illustrating this using two case examples involving human and animal victims Dave encountered in his role as a veterinary expert witness.  This followed on from Mark’s (CEO of Hidden in Sight , campaign manager at Naturewatch Foundation) excellent presentation on “Protect Animals. Protect People”, using his policing and investigative backgrounds to clarify how crimes against animals and crimes against people overlap, and contextualising animal welfare in terms of public protection.

Dave and Mark were invited to speak from the UK and international experience to urge the Eurogroup for Animals member organisations to raise awareness on thelink to their respective Governments to show how abuse of animals can be part of coercive control and domestic abuse.