Demographic disparities in animal law enforcement: rates and outcomes

Animal control is typically afforded the same enforcement powers and discretion as police in the United States. However, while there is a great deal of policing research, there is minimal research exploring demographic disparities in animal control enforcement. Aggregated animal control case and outcome data are well-positioned to examine demographic disparities in enforcement because they are linkable to census-level demographics due to the prevalence of cases at subjects' residences. The objectives of this study are to examine if the most marginalized communities experience higher numbers of animal control cases and if they are more likely to experience punitive enforcement. We analyzed a U.S. representative animal control dataset of 1,034,406 cases from 2015 to 2022 from five agencies. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) were used to link cases with their associated Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) scores, with higher scores identifying more marginalized communities. To control for inter-agency case volume variability, a weighted analysis of animal control outcomes was performed. An unweighted binomial logistic regression analysis controlling for multiple variables verifies the results of the weighted analysis. Results indicate that the most marginalized communities experience the preponderance of cases and higher rates of punitive outcomes. Racial & Ethnic Minority Status and Socioeconomic Status SVI domains primarily influence the disparities, even when controlling for case type. Combined results highlight racial and socioeconomic inequities in animal law enforcement that hold wider implications for the intersections between animal control and access to veterinary care.