Invisible Victims, Invisible Crimes: Institutional Erasures of Animals as Victims of Cruelty

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Main Author: Serrin Rutledge‐Prior
Format: Artículo Open Access
Published: Wiley 2026
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author Serrin Rutledge‐Prior
author_facet Serrin Rutledge‐Prior
Serrin Rutledge‐Prior
collection Wiley Open Access
contents Invisible Victims, Invisible Crimes: Institutional Erasures of Animals as Victims of Cruelty Serrin Rutledge‐Prior Law & Policy ABSTRACT To receive justice in the legal system, one must be seen by the legal system; this is as true for nonhuman animal victims of crime as it is for human victims. Situating animal cruelty within the invisible crimes framework, this paper highlights the paucity of research on prosecutions and sentencing under animal welfare law. Due in part to a lack of transparency in the public and private institutions that regulate animal welfare, our understanding of how animals are recognized within legal systems has so far relied heavily on critiques of animal welfare legislation as written. Drawing on an original database of Australian prosecutions of cruelty cases ( n  = 552) involving “pet” animals, this paper offers new, empirically centered perspectives on the legal treatment of animals. It calls for an expansion of the invisible crimes framework to include “invisible victims” and supports recent calls for animals to be recognized as crime victims. 10.1111/lapo.70013 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
doi_str_mv 10.1111/lapo.70013
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license_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
publishDate 2026
publisher Wiley
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spellingShingle Invisible Victims, Invisible Crimes: Institutional Erasures of Animals as Victims of Cruelty
Serrin Rutledge‐Prior
Law & Policy
Invisible Victims, Invisible Crimes: Institutional Erasures of Animals as Victims of Cruelty Serrin Rutledge‐Prior Law & Policy ABSTRACT To receive justice in the legal system, one must be seen by the legal system; this is as true for nonhuman animal victims of crime as it is for human victims. Situating animal cruelty within the invisible crimes framework, this paper highlights the paucity of research on prosecutions and sentencing under animal welfare law. Due in part to a lack of transparency in the public and private institutions that regulate animal welfare, our understanding of how animals are recognized within legal systems has so far relied heavily on critiques of animal welfare legislation as written. Drawing on an original database of Australian prosecutions of cruelty cases ( n  = 552) involving “pet” animals, this paper offers new, empirically centered perspectives on the legal treatment of animals. It calls for an expansion of the invisible crimes framework to include “invisible victims” and supports recent calls for animals to be recognized as crime victims. 10.1111/lapo.70013 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
title Invisible Victims, Invisible Crimes: Institutional Erasures of Animals as Victims of Cruelty
topic Law & Policy
url https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lapo.70013