ANIMAL
ALTERS:
CASE REPORTS
Kate M. Hendrickson, M .D.,
Teresita McCarty, M .D., and
Jean M. Goodwin, M .D., M.P.H.
Kate M . Hendrickson, M .D., practices psychiatry in Albu-
querque, New Mexico . Teresita McCarty, M .D., is Assistant
Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of
New Mexico School of Medicine, in Albuquerque, New
Mexico . Jean M . Goodwin, M .D., M.P.H ., is Professor in the
Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health Sciences at the
Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Portions of this paper were presented at the Sixth Annual
International Conference on Multiple Personality and Dis-
sociation, Chicago, Illinois, October 1989.
For reprints write Teresita McCarty, M .D., Department of
Psychiatry, University of New Mexico, 2400 Tucker, N .E.,
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131.
ABSTRACT
Five cases of multiple personality disorder (MPD) are presented which
include one or mare animal alters of differing complexity . In some
cases, the development of the animal alter could be traced to childhood
traumata involving (1) being forced to act or live like an animal, (2)
witnessing animal mutilation, (3) being forced to engage in or
witness bestiality, or (4) experiencing the traumatic loss of or killing
of an animal . Clinical clues to the animal alter phenomenon that
emerge during therapy are (1) over-identification with an animal,
(2) hearing animal calls, (3) excessive fears of animals, (4) excessive
involvement with a pet, and (5) cruelty to animals . Therapeutic work
with animal alters may be a helpful or necessary preliminary to
retrieval of underlying memories about the torture or killing of
animals or human beings, and can be essential to the integration of
such memories and to self-forgiveness.
INTRODUCTION
Surveys of patients with multiple personality disorder
(MPD) typically note the numbers of alternate personalities,
the presence of child and opposite-gender personalities, and
the different affects and behaviors segregated to specific
alters (Putnam, Guroff, Silberman, Barban, & Post, 1986).
Clinical reports of animal alters are limited (Carlson, 1986;
Smith, 1989).
Five cases are presented in which psychotherapy pro-
gressed through animal metaphors or disclosure of animal
alters . The formation of these alters was associated with (1)
being forced to live like an animal ; (2) witnessing animal
mutilation, especially in context of threats the child will be
hurt as the animal is hurt ; (3) bestiality ; and (4) the death or
deliberate killing of the child's pet . The therapist should be
alert for clinical clues to the presence of animal alters
including : (1) over-identification with an animal ; (2) hear-
ing animal calls ; (3) excessive fears of animals ; (4) excessive
involvement with a pet ; (5) cruelty to animals ; (6) conver-
sationswith pets ; (7) perceiving animals as protectors, guides
or guards ; or (8) animal-like demeanor or dress . Recognition
of animal alters can lead to exploration of the "inhuman"
abuse the patient has experienced and may be a way for the
patient to disclose and process the unspeakable.
CASES OF ANIMAL REPRESENTATION
AND ANIMAL ALTERS
Case I
A 38-year-old woman made many references to animals
over the course of therapy . During childhood family mem-
bers fed her with leftovers scraped into a dog bowl from
which she was made to eat on hands and knees . When no one
acknowledged her presence or speech, she wondered if she
might be a dog and began to spend days in the yard because
she had learned that dogs don 't belong in the house . When
left unfed, she would go to the garbage pail in the middle of
the night to scavenge food . This also fit with her identifica-
tion as a dog and she began to call upon the dog part of
herself, later structured as the dog alter, when she had to eat
this way . Later her father deliberately killed her pet dog as
punishment.
The patient described how her father caught birds and
placed them in the closet when she was sent there for
punishment . She was frightened when the birds beat her
about the head with their wings . Sometimes there were dead
rabbits and birds under her bed which she believed her
father had killed and could bring back to life . When she got
out of bed, "you could never be sure if they would get your
feet or not ." She was told she could be strangled just as these
animals were if she didn't do what she was told and keep her
mouth shut . These are the anlage of her present defense
against anxiety : "When I'm too scared, I turn into a bird and
fly into the closet ."
The patient recalled holding neighborhood cats while
her father chopped off the legs before strangling them.
When the family cat became pregnant the father showed his
daughter what he would do if she became pregnant by
cutting the kittens from the abdomen . As before, the limbs
were amputated in pieces and the kittens strangled . The
patient's father told her that the dead cat and all other cats
would know the terrible things that had been done.
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When her father began having intercourse with her at
age eight, she became terrified both of pregnancy and of
eating . When recalling these fears in therapy, she described
hearing "weird babies crying inside ." The voices were in-
consolable and she was terrified of leaving the therapist 's
office because "everyone would know ." She feared others
could hear the cats crying and would know about her partic-
ipation in animal mutilation . As treatment progressed she
described trying to help the mother cat by taking her and the
kittens inside herself so her father couldn 't hurt there
anymore . However, she was terrified of an alter based on the
vengeful internalized mother cat and the internalized mother
cat alter, in turn, was frightened of the patient's father.
After describing how the kittens had been internalized,
it became possible for her to talk about her own incest
pregnancies at ages fourteen and sixteen . The infants had
multiple defects and weak cries ; but the real horror came
with their deaths at the hands of her father shortly after the
births . One child was dismembered much like the cat and the
kittens . After the patient talked about the internalized kittens,
she was able to recall the dissociated memory of the incest
pregnancies . In the early stages she could only talk about
these memories while in her cat-like state . The cat could
"tell" these stories when the patient could not.
Significantly, whenever the patient's guilt was triggered
about not saving her children or the kittens, she would self-
mutilate with a razor blade held lengthwise between hyper-
extended fingers, her fingers resembling claws . She described
similar behavior when she ambivalently submitted to sex
with men . The cat alter would make numerous superficial
"scratches" on the faces and chests of the men.
Case 2
A 40-year-old woman presented for treatment because
she would "lose "her skin and "fall apart " unpredictably . She
felt her body was divided in parts - the only time it was really
whole was when she was typing- then arms, although they
belonged to different people, had to work together . Every-
thing she wrote about a subject "comes out five ways," each
with an identifiable script, unique orientation, and unique
information about the topic . The fifth type of script was
printed, the style straightforward and insightful . It was always
signed, "the dog ." These versions were seldom longer than a
sentence or two, but cut right to the heart of the matter . The
patient was fond of the cartoon character Snoopy, whom she
felt communicated things succinctly and made them more
bearable with humor.
As a child she had been given a dog named Jenny that she
wanted with her all the time . Jenny slept in her room each
night . After her parents divorced, the dog was relegated to a
doghouse in the backyard and the patient felt pushed out of
the house by her new stepfather . She and the dog spent many
hours together before the animal was killed accidentally . She
felt she had lost her only close, kind and devoted friend . She
was ridiculed by her parents when she wanted to have a
funeral for the dog . Any expression of her feelings resulted
in verbal abuse by her mother.
Twenty-five years later she started in therapy and si-
multaneously found a dog severely disfigured by large patch-
es of hairless and damaged skin . The dog followed her home
and she kept it outside for months while she nursed it back
to health . She worked hard to earn the dog 's affection and
calm its fear of people . She feels she may have mistreated the
dog initially, but as her functioning improved, she treated
the dog better . He now lives in the house and is the patient 's
constant friend, companion, and playmate . The neighbors
say the dog is vicious, but she denies this.
When her childhood ally died, the only commemoration
that seemed possible was incorporation of the dog into her
developing self, a self that was already using dissociation as a
response to violent family disintegration which she was not
allowed to discuss . The dog alter functioned as an external
observing ego with synthetic insight . It also allowed her to
preserve some warmth and humor . In therapy the dog
appears as an alter, as a real companion who is a substitute for
human interaction, as a creature to be both nurtured and
abused, and as the Snoopy metaphor.
we 3
A 35-year-old health care professional disclosed in group
therapy that when she became scared, she would turn into a
dog . Her parents were German immigrants who punished
the patient by making her eat from a dog bowl and act like a
dog . In individual therapy, multiple personality disorder was
diagnosed ; and she revealed that she had been molested by
her father who involved the family dog in various acts of
bestiality . Any reference to sex, being had, or feeling shamed
made her feel as if she "turned into" a dog . When these issues
were discussed in therapy, the patient began acting like a dog
and spoke in German (which the therapist did not under-
stand).
Talking about being treated like an animal, feeling and
acting like an animal preceded telling about the abuse . Some
of the telling was communicated in the language that was
used in the original abuse, butwas also in a language and style
of communication that was likely to be noticed but not
understood - a way of communicating without actually
"telling ."
Case 4
A woman with dissociative disorder was tried and con-
victed for a murder done by evisceration . The only witness at
the crime scene reported seeing her first kneeling beside the
reclining victim and then crawling toward the witness on all
fours . Only when she drew near did she stand up to walk.
Forensic evidence suggested that the woman had used her
teeth atone point in the crime, and she believed this also, but
only because of the taste that was left in her mouth.
Because of her amnesia, she was hypnotized . Asked in
trance to imagine herself in a peaceful place, she described
a jungle waterhole and herself as a panther in the branches
of a tree . At the end of a largely fruitless attempt to reconstruct
the crime under hypnosis, she was asked what had been
happening in her peaceful place . She said that a warthog had
been attacked and split open by the panther.
Forensic reports indicated fingernails had been used
during the crime, however there was no trace of blood under
the convicted woman 's nails . The reconstructed crime time-
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ANIMAL ALTERS
table left no time for her to wash her hands except possibly
in a roadside stream . One explanation was that she had
licked her hands and nails clean.
This woman's amnesia also covered much of her child-
hood . Therefore, any history of her earlier violence could
not be elicited and/or documented.
Case 5
A middle-aged woman remembered only a wholesome
childhood, but had never felt happy or at ease in the world.
She experimented with many beliefs and forms of healing.
While participating in New Age religious practices she ac-
quired the following "power animals" : snake, dolphin, owl,
hawk, several different big cats, dogs, and domestic cats . She
came for a psychiatric evaluation after she began to remember
incest and other abuse in her past . She also began to worry
that the circle dances and moon ceremonies she had devised
for herself were actually recreations of rituals she had ex-
perienced in the past . The animals she had selected as spirit
guides (who also appeared in her art) included many species
she recalled from childhood ceremonies.
Psychological treatment started when she first remem-
bered her incest experiences . She continues to work on her
dissociative disorder and memories of multi-generational
sadistic abuse . The animals are clearly important metaphors;
whether they signal the presence of internalized animal
alters or personality fragments is not yet clear.
DISCUSSION OF CASES
In these cases, indications of an animal alter included
descriptions of child abuse involving being treated like an
animal, witnessing animal mutilations (often used as threats
to enforce silence), bestial sex, or descriptions of the delib-
erate killing of a loved pet . The internalization of the animal
seems to function to produce a survivable persona in a
chaotic environment and to maintain, at least, a non-verbal
representation of unspeakable cruelty despite enforced si-
lence . Internally, the animal alter may function to continue
the enforcement of silence . The alter also allows preservation
of loving memories of the animal companion that had been
deliberately killed or traumatically lost.
In addition to childhood memories of animals, other
clues for therapists are (1) feeling like an animal or identi-
fying oneself with an animal, (2) hearing animal calls inside
one's head, (3) fear of animals, (4) excessive protective
involvement with a current pet or other animal, (5) cruelty
to animals, (6) reports ofconversationswith pets, (7) animals
as protectors, guides or guards, and (8) animal-like behavior,
such as scratching, crawling, licking or eating like an animal.
Animal-like behaviors have been described in abused
children (the Cinderella Syndrome) (Goodwin, Gauthorne,
& Rada, 1989 ; Goodwin, 1989) as well as in adults with
multiple personality disorder . "Wild children" described
historically have been thought to behave like animals because
of imitation of animal foster mothers, or because of devel-
opmental delays due to severe abuse and neglect (Freedman
& Brown, 1968 ; Singh & Zingg, 1942 ; Itard, 1962) . It is also
possible that some of the animalistic behaviors seen in these
children represent re-enactments of their severe abuse.
Animal familiars of witches and shamans maybe another
cross-cultural constellation based on the clustering of
childhood trauma, reliance on dissociative symptoms, and
unusual and ambivalent attachment to animals because they
were part of the original trauma (Carlson, 1986 ; Smith,
1989) . Freud once mentioned a case involving transient
assumption of an animal identity, describing a child who,
when his kitten died, announced that he was now the kitten
and crawled about on all fours (Freud, 1948, p . 67) . Several
of Freud's most famous cases are recognized by an animal
component : Little Hans' fear of horses, the Wolf Man who
feared, dissected, and tortured insects and animals, and the
Rat Man's fear that rats would eat into his anus . Freud said of
Rat Man, "He could truly be said to find `a living likeness of
himself in the rat" (Freud, 1955, p . 216).
When patients make animal references, they can sound
or look psychotic . The symptoms should be observed and
examined as any dream or memory fragment might be
explored . The animal alters may be a path to related but
dissociated memories, or they may function to prevent access
to a set of memories . Typically, they do both . As the devel-
opment and function of animal states are clarified, the alters
can be connected with the childhood memories or trauma
that led to their formation.
The therapist should reassess the dangerousness of the
patient when animal alters are discovered . Contact with the
animal alter is important in providing a gateway to the
victim 's more violent alters, an access that is often crucial for
safety reasons . These more violent alters represent identifi-
cations with the most violent acts of the perpetrators ; actions
usually not accessible until the animal torture is revealed . In
some instances, the animal alter itself may be the patient's
most violent state.
CONCLUSION
Recognition of animal alters can lead to uncovering
dissociated memories of animal torture and bestiality which
are often layered below memories of incest, but are recovered
before memories of extreme family violence, including sa-
distic abuse . The animal alter may point to evidence of
extreme and murderous violence . The "animal " does this
non-verbally, in part because verbal disclosure would trigger
the perpetrator 's death threats.
The perpetrator intimidates the victim and enforces
silence by torturing the animal and threatening that the
child will be tortured in the same way . Perpetrators also
reinforce the animal's potential for retaliatory attack and
threaten that the victimwill be "found out" as a co-perpetrator.
The animal alter may be transformed internally into an
exotic, ferocious beast which can express murderous rage.
Thus, achieving contact, reconciliation, and alliance with
the internal animal alter becomes a powerful tool which the
victim can use in efforts to recover or to retaliate . Ultimately,
the reconnecting and adaptive aspects of the animal image
can be incorporated into the patient's emerging ego strength.
A major component of the patient's motivation for develop-
ing assertiveness and reincorporating retaliatory capacity is
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the victim's shame and guilt about having been helpless to
protect these small, innocent creatures . This developing ego
strength can be used to process the sadness and rage at
having been a helpless, unprotected child.
Working with animal alters is helpful in addressing the
extreme guilt resulting from participation in acts felt to be
inhuman . Because of the victim's induction as a co-participant
in animal torture, the issue of responsibility has become even
more muddled than in other incest situations . The animal is
often chosen for victimization because it is the child's pet.
From the patient's point of view, their pet was victimized
because they loved it . Therefore, the child's love itself is
contaminated and potentially lethal . This, together with the
victim's extreme guilt about the seriousness of the infraction,
leads to self-esteem deficits at the level of not experiencing
oneself as a member of the human race . Work with the
animal alter can be a pathway to self-forgiveness for the
victim . As therapist and patient begin to understand the
animal alter and its violent propensities as a natural conse-
quence of sadistic abuse, the patient's underlying sense of
beastliness becomes accessible to treatment . a73
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