While pets may be protective for some people at risk of suicide, they may also become a risk factor or even become co-victims when humans end their own lives. It is important to protect against simplistic approaches to human-animal relationships, especially where simplification may endanger human and/or animal lives.

Using publicly accessible online media articles between 2010 and 2020, this research sought to progress our understanding of suicidal acts involving pet animals.

Sixty-one articles from 6 countries were identified; a mixed-methods qualitative descriptive (QD) approach to analysis was undertaken composed of descriptive statistical mapping followed by thematic content analysis.

Almost 90% of the articles reported the deaths of multiple humans and 23% reported the deaths of multiple animals. A total of 116 animals were identified: mainly dogs, but also 8 cats, 2 rabbits, and 2 non-specified pets. Most animals died, with only 9 surviving. 5 key categories of scenarios were identified: extended suicides, mercy killings, suicide pacts, family annihilators, and unique. A further level of analysis was undertaken focused on the family annihilator reports (44⁄61 articles) using a published homicide-suicide typology. Key points to emerge from this analysis include the possibly higher vulnerability of dogs compared with other species.

The terms “extended suicide” and “peticide” are discussed with the recommendation that the killing of pet animals be linguistically aligned with that of other killings. A focus on human-animal relationships reveals commonly unexplored intersections across criminology, mental health, and domestic violence and suggests the potential for collaboration across these fields driven by multi-species awareness. This 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.

[Keywords: Animals, familicide, homicide-suicide, human=animal interaction, peticide, pets]

…One of the questions considered at length by the authors was “Why so few cats?” Globally, it is estimated there are 370 million cats kept as pets, a not distant comparison to the 470 million pet dogs that are kept (Statista2019). It may simply be that cats are less likely to be reported as killed (which raises the question of why their deaths would be overlooked compared with dogs). However, it may be a reality that reflects species capabilities. Cats are perhaps far better at escaping and hiding. Compared with dogs, cats can climb up high, they are less likely to make a noise once hidden, and they may be able to escape the site of violence more readily, perhaps through a window or cat-flap. It is also possible that they are less incorporated into killers’ “family” conceptions and may not be considered as family members in the same way that dogs are.

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