The purpose of the guide is to encourage a multidisciplinary approach to these problems; it is hoped that this type of collaboration will filter down to community leaders in related fields, such as law enforcement, juvenile justice, probation, and mental health. The first chapter presents compelling qualitative and quantitative evidence that cruelty to animals is another form of family violence, that there are links between known serial killers and cruelty to animals, and that pets are often the common denominators in family violence cases. The second chapter discusses how child protection, domestic violence, and animal care agencies define their terms and prosecute cases of abuse and neglect. The third chapter focuses on identifying signs of abuse and neglect, and describes how to report suspected or known abuse to the relevant authorities. The final chapter discusses the advantages of cross-training and cross-reporting among disciplines. 3 appendixes and 25 references