Is there a place to report a potential animal abuser?

[Karina1974]

This is the source of my hesitation. What am I going to say, I've heard this and this from this person who has heard it from yet another person? Hence my dilemma.

Exactly. It would be up to that "yet other person", assuming they have witnessed this abuse, to do the reporting. You can't do anything because you haven't witnessed anything. Hear-say is not proof.

[mmscfdcsu]

Exactly. It would be up to that "yet other person", assuming they have witnessed this abuse, to do the reporting. You can't do anything because you haven't witnessed anything. Hear-say is not proof.

You do not need to have "proof" to report. You need to have a reasonable suspicion that abuse has taken place. It is up to the DFS to to investigate. As a mandated reporter, I would have to report the if I heard that the child had been abused.

[barbk]

IceAlisa -- I think this is one of those situations where someone needs to speak up. It may be enough that they do some investigation, or offer some parenting classes, or it may just go in a file until something else happens. But from the sound of it, it is more likely than not that something else will happen, and that child (and dog) deserve every chance to avoid abuses.

[barbk]

Yes -- to add to what mmscfdcsu said, in my state, if you were a teacher, and even heard one child say that another child had been given a black eye by a parent, you'd be required to make a report.

[IceAlisa]

I am going to talk to someone who lives nearby to verify the bruise on the little boy story. I can't say it comes from a very reliable source so I'd like to confirm. But the choking of the Yorkie puppy is reliable and I believe it 100%, especially given how her last dog died.

[PeterG]

#3 is a toy Yorkie, a tiny puppy whom she disciplines by choking it so it gasps for breath. She also whacks it with a towel...

I take it that your Mom witnessed this. To which I must ask, "what does this woman do to the puppy when there are not any witnesses around"?

And if this is what she does to the dog, what might she be doing to her children?

[Angelskates]

I can't think of a reason not to report either case. It doesn't matter if it's hearsay or completely made up, reporting it can do no harm, not reporting could do a lot of harm. You only need to make a call, then you've done your part, the rest is up to the relevant agencies.

[heckles]

Report the abuse, sleep better at night.

[Karina1974]

You do not need to have "proof" to report. You need to have a reasonable suspicion that abuse has taken place. It is up to the DFS to to investigate. As a mandated reporter, I would have to report the if I heard that the child had been abused.

Are we talking about the child or the dog here? Because I was referring to the dog.