An Examination of Community-Level Correlates of Animal Welfare Offenses and Violent Crime in Finland

Abstract

There is very little research that provides a truly sociological assessment of the structural correlates of animal crime. There is also no comparative, community-level research on animal crimes in countries other than the U.S. In this exploratory study, we examine correlates of animal crime across Finland. Taking advantage of Finnish data on reported animal crime for 294 municipalities over a 10-year period, we (1) compare community-level predictors of violent and animal crime and (2) examine whether there is a relationship between violent crime and animal crime. While several economic, structural, and cultural variables are related to violent crime, we find that poverty is a common correlate of both violent and animal crime in Finland. We also find that, in contrast to the U.S., violent crime and animal crime are not related in Finland at the community level. We discuss implications for future research and the ways animal crime differs in the U.S. and Finland.