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"Peticide" Describes Animals Killed as Part of Human Suicides

From National Link Coalition: The National Resource Center on The LINK between Animal Abuse and Human Violence
September 2022

The research adds to arguments for data on animal presence in scenarios of human violence to be collected so that responses to protect vulnerable animals, and humans, can be developed.

National Link Coalition

A new research study, believed to be the first of its kind, examines what the authors call “peticide” – human suicides that also involve animals.

Our “The Link in the News” section includes media reports of family pets that were killed as part of a murder-suicide event to eliminate an entire family, and our trainings to veterinarians recommend that if clients request to have all their animals euthanized the practitioner should call the 988 National Suicide Prevention Hotline as this is a telltale warning sign. A new research study, believed to be the first of its kind, examines what the authors call “peticide” – human suicides that also involve animals.

The authors write that while pets may be protective for some people at risk of suicide, they may also become a risk factor or even co-victims when humans end their own lives. They reviewed 61 media articles from six countries from 2010 – 2020. 90% of the articles reported the deaths of multiple humans and 23% reported the deaths of multiple animals. Of the 116 animals identified, the majority were dogs but eight cats, two rabbits, and two non-specified pets were also included; only nine animals survived.

Five key scenarios were identified:

  • extended suicides
  • mercy killingssuicide pacts
  • unique
  • family annihilators, which represented the greatest number of incidents (44/61 articles)

The authors note the higher vulnerability of dogs compared with other species and recommend that the terms “extended suicide” and “peticide” be used to align these cases linguistically with other killings. The research adds to arguments for data on animal presence in scenarios of human violence to be collected so that responses to protect vulnerable animals, and humans, can be developed.

 Young, J., Oxley, J.A., Montrose, V.T., & Herzog, H. (2022, Aug. 26). Peticide: An analysis of online news media articles of human suicide involving pet animals. Anthrozoös, DOI: 10.1080/08927936.2022.2109292

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