Animal abuse is something outrageous. Humanity, in general, has made some big steps regarding the way animals are treated; however, there are still many more to do, until we will perceive life and all of its creatures on a circle, or spiral, not on a pyramid and we will acknowledge the right of every being ? not just ours - to be here and be well.
We still witness abandoned, chained dogs dying from starvation, dehydration or hypothermia, because their owners moved out or had a child or another excuse to leave them; in many parts of the world, we still witness people hitting or killing animals and uneducated children kicking little furry creatures, manifesting gratuitous violence, without significant consequences to them, although kids who hurt animals are often likely to commit violence against people later in life.
We still hear, too often, the phrase ?It is just an animal?.
In such situations, it is very easy to become so furious, so disgusted that some people may just want to go away and not think about it, or try to forget in order to protect themselves. However, being sorry, getting angry and sad does not change things for animals. Only human action can change something ? therefore, the basic thing we can do is to report any case of animal abuse. Standing against abusive individuals means more punishments and fewer chances that others will do the same thing; instead, choosing to do nothing when you see abuse and injustice will actually help the abusers.
There are two kinds of animal cruelty: direct violence and neglect. Both of them are equally punishable, so you should report them to the police or to your local animal welfare agency, as soon as possible. Make sure you offer all the details and let them know that you are taking the incident seriously.
The best way to fight cruelty is to EDUCATE. Parents should be the first to teach their children early on how to respect animals and humanely interact with them.
Adults can try to inform other adults, they can share messages on social networks about proper treatment of animals, offer to teach a class about it, set a good example for the others, by responsibly caring their own pets, support animal rescue organizations, volunteer at their local shelter. People can also choose to be cruelty-free consumers, they can stop buying from cosmetic brands that are still testing their products on animals, they can also find out what to avoid in order to prevent destroying the habitat of wildlife and so much more. Videos and pictures of animal abuse posted on the Internet, as well as animal abuse showed in a movie, can be reported as well. People can also help by signing petitions, taking part in campaigns, crossposting or sharing online information about abandoned animals in order to help find them a home and raise awareness about the subject.
Facts on Animal Cruelty
The surprising percentage of animal cruelty situations reported officially represents just a small part of the reality, since there are numerous cases nobody ever finds out about. Compared with aggressive criminal offenses against people, instances of animal cruelty are not carefully analyzed by the government or state organizations, making it hard to determine just how typical they are.
Nevertheless, the data that is available can be used to try to comprehend and avoid situations of animal mistreatment. Animal neglect and cruelty covers all economic and social classes, and press reviews indicate that such cases are frequent in both non-urban areas and towns. Intentional cruelty to poor, innocent creatures is highly associated with other criminal offenses, such as aggression against humans.
Hoarding actions often victimize pets and people with hoarding problems may often seriously neglect their pets by having more animals in their household than they could actually tend to. Severe neglect is often a red flag that the individuals involved need public or psychological health services. Surveys show that people who are deliberately cruel to creatures are primarily men under the age of 30, while individuals involved in pet hoarding are generally females over 60.
The pets who are most often victims of animal cruelty are cats, dogs, horses and farm animals. Based on an analysis of a large number of situations of pet abuse, the species affected were more likely to be those frequently seen in houses or in farms, especially in the rural regions. Undercover research has shown that animal cruelty is abundant in the animal farm industry.
However, because of the poor legislation provided to protect these creatures, only the more severe situations are revealed, and few of the abusers are ever charged. Dog fighting, cock fighting and other types of structured animal abuse go together with other criminal offenses, and carry on in many regions of the world because of community crime.
The authorities have revealed numerous situations where drug dealers were running drugs through cock fighting and dog fighting events. Plenty of crimes have happened in these cases and several men were murdered in fights over animal fighting bets.
Undercover animal rights organizations fight against complacent community authorities and have collaborated with national police investigators on numerous crime situations in different regions. In such circumstances, police officers and other authorities were accused and charged of various animal abuse offenses.
Data on household violence and child violence cases show that a huge number of pets are abused by people who mistreat their kids or partners as well.
Furthermore, a recent study revealed that more than 70 percent of the victims of domestic violence reported that their aggressor was also cruel towards their household animals. In one survey of homes under research for alleged child neglect and violence towards children, authorities found that animal cruelty had happened in over 85% of the cases under review.
These are worrisome facts that cannot be ignored, and animal welfare organizations cannot win the fight alone. If you have witnessed a case of animal abuse, please contact your local authorities.
