Since the earliest days of animal protec-tion, veterinarians have played central roles in working with animal welfare investigators and law enforcement authorities to aid animals that have been victims of human abuse and neglect. Animal cruelty cases are being treated with more respect than at any time in the past. Increased public concern for the animals that share our communities, a proliferation of university human-animal studies and animal law courses, and stronger scientific support for the links between animal abuse and human violence and for the therapeutic benefits of animals have combined to help generate a new renaissance of interest in animal well-being.