Kendra Coulter, Associate Professor in Labour Studies, wrote a piece recently published in the National Post about the haunting work taken on by animal cruelty investigators.

Coulter writes:

The content you’re about to read is not graphic. But it is troubling, because the realities of animal cruelty are troubling. This article is not intended to make you recoil, but rather to encourage you to understand and care.

The cases of animal cruelty that receive media coverage shock, disturb and infuriate us. If images or footage are included, many of us simply cannot look, because we find it too horrific. But some people not only have to look, but also to listen, touch, document and, when possible, rescue the animals themselves, continuously.

I have been leading a team studying animal cruelty investigation work and workers for the last few years. It is difficult research, to put it mildly. I hear from officers all over the world, especially those across Canada and the United States.

In the field with officers, I have seen a small fraction of what they constantly experience. I am haunted. But this is not about me. It is about the people who do this work on the front lines, day in and day out.

Continue reading the full article here.