WASHINGTON—Styled in the form of a rap music video, a black and white 30-second spot shows an angry young man with sounds of adults fighting in the background. The tension builds and he turns to his dog, fist raised. But he suddenly chooses to embrace his dog, and break the violence connection. The meaning is clear: This is much more than a music video. It's a public service announcement with a sobering message.

The HSUS is hoping teens get an education about an issue they won't find in many textbooks: the connection between animal cruelty and human violence. And they're sending the lesson in an unconventional package. Students from a University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill journalism class, as a semester-long project, produced the spot for The HSUS last spring. The PSA is being distributed to television stations around the country.

"We think teens will definitely relate to the PSA in its music video form," said Virginia M. Prevas, manager for The HSUS First Strike® campaign which focuses on the animal cruelty/human violence connection. "The production is slick, but the message is clear and simple. This is a project created by the students for their peers—teens and young adults."

The PSA was targeted to teens based on a report of high-profile cruelty cases compiled by The HSUS. While the report covered 1,600 cases of animal cruelty from across the country, it is a mere snapshot of the thousands of animal cruelty crimes committed each year. Among the cases, 20 percent of the intentional cruelty incidents were committed by teens. Of that group, 95 percent were males.

"Twenty percent might not seem like a huge amount, but it's significant," Prevas said. "And remember, this is a vulnerable population on the verge of establishing patterns for life. If we can break the cycle of violence in teens through prevention and intervention, hopefully we can keep them from becoming adults who abuse animals and engage in other forms of violent behavior." Prevas' professional background includes social work with prison inmates, psychiatric rehabilitation for persons with mental illness and coordinating animal cruelty cases for hearings.

"Teens listen to their peers," said Prevas. "That is why we are reaching out in this way to teens, youth organizations, and teen-oriented media to spread the word about animal abuse and its connection to human violence."

In addition to the PSA, The HSUS is using other resources to reach teens. "We're giving teens information to act on if they see an animal being abused. We"re working with states to improve and enforce their animal cruelty laws, and we're working to alert communities everywhere about this very serious problem in our society that we all can do something about."

The First Strike campaign has attracted the support of many celebrities including Britney Spears, Jessica Biel, Mandy Moore, Frankie Muniz, Christina Ricci, and Vanessa Semrow, Miss Teen USA® 2002.

An impressive variety of magazines, national and local organizations and Web sites are also teaming up with the First Strike campaign to spread the word about breaking the animal cruelty/human violence connection. They are providing links from their Web sites to the music video and information for teens on The HSUS' Web pages.

Online supporters include: Bolt, Inc.; Center for Domestic Violence Prevention; Center for the Prevention of School Violence; Cornerstone; DC Youngsters Against Animal Cruelty; Do Something; Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, Inc.—STOP the Violence Program; Girls' Life on-line magazine; gURL on-line magazine; Help for Abused Women and Their Children; J-14 on-line magazine; HumaneTeen.org; SETMAG.com; Seventeen on-line magazine; SHiNE; Silence Hurts Campaign; Teens For Animals; TeenTalkNetwork; TEENSforJC.com; TRANSCENDMAG.com; Twist on-line magazine; and YM on-line magazine.