Who Cares About Animals?

Animal Cruelty is a subject that spreads far across the United States and into most civilized cultures. Animal cruelty can either be in the form of intentional abuse, simple neglect, or abandonment of animals.  Whatever forms the abuse takes, however, the animal that is the victim of the abuse is often helpless and may experience extreme suffering. Animal right activist feel if you don’t know how to take care or treat an animal it can be as deadly as physical abuse to care for one.

Animal Cruelty is a problem that many ignore. People are oblivious to these animals and the negligence their owners show. Animal cruelty is an underlying problem in today’s society, and the only way to counteract these problems, is for this generation to do something about it.

Murder and abuse cases never fail to startle society. Moral codes are flouted with unmatched rigorousness by these indubitable egregious crimes. Sufferers in these cases are often people. Nonetheless, these callous obscenities should not be seen as less important when animals are the victims. Animals undergo horrendous abuse due to barbaric individuals, greed, and unnecessary lab testing.

1. ATTENTION GETTER: Millions of animals are abused each year. Over a million of these animals are abused or killed just due to the involvement with domestic violence. Despite animal cruelty being a felony which can result in jail time for over 15 years and 500,000 dollars in fines, it is still an issue which occurs on a daily basis across the United States. It is important for these animals to not go unnoticed, which can be achieved if society became more enlightened and educated on the topic of animal cruelty. (Pacelle, 2011).

Every pet owner has that horrible moment when they accidently step on their dog’s paw or cat’s tail. The dog will whimper and cower like it is asking what it did wrong; while the cat will hiss and hide for awhile. Most people will momentarily hate themselves for hurting their beloved pet, but there are people in the world that harm their pet intentionally. These people will torture animals for fun and have no regret or buy a pet and neglect the animal. If caught these animal abusers are given a slap on the wrist and on severe cases given a short jail sentence. Animal abuse should be considered a felony rather than a misdemeanor.

Everyday, every second that passes by, animals across the globe are mistreated in their so-called “home”. Stop animal abuse! Abusers of animal are five times as likely to harm humans. Nearly half of the time victims who stay in violent households do so because they are afraid for their own animals. Countless more never leave the home for their very reason. This issue should be further looked into by identifying states with poorly laws against animal abuse, the wrong doing of taking advantage in the use of human resources, and having absolutely no heart in having a friendly companion.

There are many different things that fall under the category of “cruelty”, neglect and abuse being the two main subcategories. The most common type of animal abuse involves dogs, Pit-bulls in particular. In 2007, of 1800 media-reported cases of animal cruelty, 64% (1,126) involved dogs, 18% (337) involved cats, and 18% (337) involved other animals. Some of the most common places where animal abuse occur are, in no particular order: fur farms, dog fights, laboratories, races (both Greyhound and horse), slaughterhouses, and puppy mills. Some less thought of forms of animal abuse are crush videos, traditional Chinese medicine, the cat/dog meat trade in Asia, the ivory trade, trophy hunting, and even shock collars. Abandonment is the leading form of animal cruelty. (See illustration.)

Increased awareness regarding animal cruelty would benefit society, pet owners, and animals themselves. When a problem is identified, it becomes easier to work out solutions. Animal cruelty is an issue on a global scale; animal torture and neglect does not only exist in the United States. Animal cruelty is the “crime of inflicting physical pain, suffering or death on an animal, usually a tame one, beyond necessity for normal discipline. It can include neglect that is so monstrous (withholding food and water) that the animal has suffered, died or been put in an imminent

Over the centuries, animals have suffered from cruelty from humans. In the United States, animals are beaten, neglected, or forced to struggle for survival. Animals have been inflicted with pain from humans for reasons other than self-defense. They have been slaughtered for their food and fur for personal gain in profit. In a majority of cases they have even been abused for someone’s own personal amusement or out of rage filled impulses. In some cases animals are found and rescued. They are given the second chance in life to experience what life should be like compared to what they once had.

Reports on the abuse and exploitation of animals have led to the increasing sensitivity of animal rights. Additionally, there have been studies that demonstrate a correlation between individuals who commit acts of animal cruelty and those who commit acts that involve humanity. In a domestic environment, individuals who perpetrate incidents of animal cruelty typically do so in order to establish authority, power, and control. This counterintuitively reduces the offender and witness’s capability to empathize. Children may limit their benevolence for a pet because they cannot handle the overwhelming empathy they feel when the pet is injured. Once their capacity to empathize is exhausted, they begin to imitate the abusive actions

One of the main solution to animal neglect and abuse is a state law called the Animal Abuser Registry Act. Animal Abuser Registry Act helps police, animal shelter, and adoption centers identify convicted animal abusers trying to buy or adopt animals. Its modeled like the registries for convicted sex-offender list. In 2016, Tennessee is the first state that adopted a statewide animal abuser registry. ( ¨New State Animal¨) A person convicted of misdemeanor for the first time have to complete an anger management program and go through a psychological counseling that teaches them about responsible pet ownership. If a person is convicted second time, they are prohibited from owning any kind of animals for 5 years and 10 years if convicted for the

Animals are an important and valued part of many families and cultures. In many households, animals are considered members of the family, receive Christmas and birthday presents, and are cared for just as a human child would be. Opposition to animal cruelty has even become a sort of universal value in American culture(Kordzek 604). But animals are uniquely vulnerable to abuse, and despite this they still do not receive much needed protection from the law. The penalties for animal cruelty are not frequently severe enough to even deter one from harming an animal. This is dangerous not only for animals, but for human beings too. Animal cruelty and domestic violence have been proven to correlate in countless ways, and recognizing animal cruelty as a serious criminal offense and a form of domestic violence would serve to protect both animals and human beings from needless acts of violence. Instituting stiffer criminal penalties for animal cruelty and increasing the protective measures for victims of abuse is necessary to further the protection of both animals and human beings.

Each year, the most extreme cases of animal abuse receive media attention. Yet, the animal cruelty problem is more widespread than is reported in the media. Animal abuse and neglect is a nationwide issue, affecting thousands of animals nationwide. Cruelty to animals is defined as the infliction of physical pain, suffering or death on an animal, beyond what is necessary. There is a need to stop abusers from acting in such a horrific manner–preventing the neglect and suffering of the animals. What causes animal abusers to act in such a cruel way towards animals? How are cases of animal abuse being managed, and how should cases be handled? Finally, does the status of animals in society contribute to the rate of their abuse?

Thesis statement: The number of animal abuse cases of the United States are rising and the correlation between this crime and other forms of abuse is becoming more and more evident.

In the last decade, the views and forms of animal cruelty have changed. Many people have different views of an animal’s rights or purpose. Some people believe that animals have no rights and are a piece of property to be utilized by humans. To others, animals can still be used by humans, but they have emotions as well. A few people consider that only certain animals with high intelligence like chimpanzees or monkeys, should not be used by man, and they should have all the rights that man has currently (“Animal Rights” , 2009). Domestic violence has a correlation with animal abuse. In a survey, 71% of domestic violence victims also reported that their abuser also targeted pets/animals. The most common animals who are abused are cats, dogs, horses,