That's the snapshot of animal cruelty provided by a recent study conducted by the Humane Society of the United States, which reviewed high-profile cases of animal cruelty nationwide between January and December 2001.

"It's only a sample, but it gives you a snapshot of who is committing the cruelty and what types of animals become the victims," said Karen Allanach, Humane Society spokeswoman, adding the report is not a scientific study, but rather a snapshot based upon well-documented sources including local humane societies, animal welfare organizations and media reports.

The report is based on information from 1,677 animal cruelty cases involving 1,863 perpetrators. Of those cases, 939 (56 percent) involved intentional animal cruelty toward animals and 738 (44 percent) involved extreme animal neglect.

"Overall, the results show that adult and teenage males commit the highest percentage of intentional animal cruelty, yet adult males have a higher frequency of being charged with animal cruelty as compared to teenage males," said Virginia M. Prevas, manager of the organization's First Strike Campaign, which was launched in 1997 to raise public and professional awareness of animal abuse.

"This raises an important concern about whether law enforcement agencies and courts are taking cases of teen violence against animals seriously."

According to the study, about 76 percent of the incidents were committed by males while about 24 percent were committed by females. Male perpetrators were also involved in the majority of intentional cruelty, 92 percent of cases, as opposed to females, who committed 8 percent of the intentional cruelty cases, according to the report. The report found that teenagers accounted for about 20 percent of the intentional acts of cruelty against animals and that the male teenagers were the perpetrators in 95 percent of the cases.

Like a similar study conducted in 2000, companion animals -- dogs and cats -- were the most common victims of animal cruelty in 2001. About 74 percent of the victims were companion animals, followed by farm animals (14 percent), wildlife (6 percent) and exotic animals (2 percent).

In cases of intentional animal cruelty, the most common offenses involved beating (18 percent), torturing (17 percent), shooting (16 percent) and mutilation (10 percent), according to the study. Males were involved in more than 90 percent of the offenses while females had the most involvement in poisoning and hanging cases, according to the report.

Some fear that animal cruelty cases are increasing or becoming more blatant. Just last week, a woman at a Missouri apartment complex saved a kitten from being barbecued by a group of laughing tenants.

"It's hard to say if it's on the upswing. But we have seen more reporting of animal cruelty cases to law enforcement," Prevas said. "Part of that can be attributed to the awareness movement about animal cruelty."