Update 9/17/09:  A top psychologist for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is reaching out to his peers in trying to understand a recent cat mutilation incident behind the Frisbee School that he said certainly raises "red flags" about a potentially dangerous individual.

ASPCA Senior Vice President of Anti-Cruelty Field Services Dr. Randall Lockwood said he is pleased Kittery authorities are taking Matthew Dorrbecker's alleged killing of a cat seriously and notes the scrawling of words in the animal's blood is among the more violent and perplexing cases he has seen in his 25 years of studying such behaviors.

"This act is fairly unique and we see a lot of animal cruelty where the main objective is to exercise power over somebody else. That doesn't seem to be a factor here and this clearly looks like far more disturbed behavior," Lockwood said.

A local officer arrested Dorrbecker, 20, of 13 Goodrich St. when he was discovered walking around the Frisbee School with a duffel bag that contained a large bloody kitchen knife and latex gloves.

Police say a subsequent check of the area turned up a mutilated cat that had been gutted and had its blood drained.

Authorities found a pool of blood behind the school and found a message scrawled in blood that read: "Stop please. He made me. My mind."

  (Courtesy photo Kittery, Maine, police have arrested a local man they say killed a cat and wrote this message in its blood)

Kittery Police Chief Ed Strong said Dorrbecker didn't explain the act, but did admit to strangling the cat, draining its blood and writing the words on school property.

Dorrbecker — the son of USS Greenville submarine commander Alan Dorrbecker — has been charged with a felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals.

Strong said Dorrbecker was in the process of being involuntarily placed in an institution for a comprehensive psychological evaluation.

Lockwood has spent years studying the psychological explanations behind animal cruelty and is an expert who often works with law enforcement departments to study the link between those who harm animals and those with the propensity to commit violent acts on humans.

The longtime psychologist said he's been studying animal cruelty cases for 20 years and rarely comes across as random a killing as was exhibited in the Kittery case.

We rarely see messages written in blood and when we do they usually are specific threats directed at an owner. That doesn't appear to be the case here," Lockwood said.

Lockwood's book: "Animal Cruelty and Interpersonal Violence" takes a look at the reasoning behind animal cruelty and he said law enforcement agencies have become more and more interested in animal cruelty cases as possible indicators of an individual's psychology and propensity to harm humans.

The specialist has formed a threat assessment equation that judges a person's risk of violence based on the behaviors exhibited in harming an animal.

He said the charges facing Dorrbecker meet the definition of someone who is potentially very dangerous — and not just to local pets.

"There is a phrase that what you'll see in the future is what you've seen in the past only worse. I think its important to take the killing of the cat seriously," Lockwood said.

The psychologist said studies have shown that some individuals committing extremely violent acts on animals are far more likely to propagate such acts on humans.

However, he said those who commit violent acts on animals aren't always going to attack humans.  "In some cases it can be a gateway or a rehearsal (for a more serious violent act), but more often it is an indicator of a generally violent or disorderly way of thinking. More often it shows people are already getting something they need psychologically through the suffering of killing of another living thing," Lockwood explained.

The psychologist said he doesn't have the information necessary to conduct a review of the man charged with mutilating the cat in Kittery, but noted the general facts suggest someone with a serious mental problem. He said he has yet to make sense of the words spelled out on the sidewalk in blood.

"This is someone who clearly needs psychiatric evaluation. He has shown he is fulfilling some need," Lockwood said.

Lockwood said he is very interested in the Kittery case from a professional perspective and has been reaching out to his peers — including some retired FBI agents — to try and understand the possible reasons for the incident in Kittery.

He said he will also be reaching out to Kittery authorities to offer his guidance as they handle the case.

Lockwood said Maine law does have a provision that allows a judge to order a person convicted of animal cruelty to undergo mental health counseling.

Dorrbecker is slated to be arraigned in York District Court on Oct. 22.

Reference:

Foster's Daily Democrat