What Is Animal Abuse

Animal abuse has become a very alarming problem across the country in today’s society.

Every day, animals are being neglected and abused and it is rapidly growing in our country. Just knowing the signs of animal abuse and neglect can help make a difference to the animals. Animal abuse or cruelty is the harm, suffering or infliction on an animal for purposes other than self defense. “Animal cruelty can be to deliberately abuse or just simply the failure to take care of the animals that you own” (“animal abuse and”, n.

).Cruelty to an animal can be done in a lot of different ways and can have a lot of different consequences that will follow. There are two types of animal cruelty, passive or omission and active or commission. “The first is Passive cruelty or acts of omission cruelty.

Passive cruelty can be described by cases of neglect, where the crime is caused by a lack of action instead of the action itself” (Gianotto, 2001).Some examples would be: “starvation, dehydration, parasite infestation, a collar growing into the skin of the animal, not having proper shelter for the weather conditions, and finally, not seeking veterinary care” (Gianotto, 2001) when the animal is in need of medical attention. Some of these things many may not have been thought of as being forms of cruelty, but they are very true and many people may have been responsible for a couple of these, not knowing that they were hurting the animals. But does that make them an abuser? It certainly does not, if it has only happened once and the situation that the animal is in has changed.

To the true activist, this is criminal and very wrong. “ If the investigator of the department feels that the cruelty occurred out of ignorance, they may feel the need to educate the pet owner on the matter, then come back later to see if any improvements were made in the situation”( Gianotto, 2001). There are even times the animal has to be removed and then treated medically because the case was severe. Another form of abuse is active cruelty or acts of commission. “Active cruelty means that there is malicious intent where a person has deliberately and intentionally harmed he animal, sometimes called NAI (non-accidental injury).These acts of cruelty are sometimes very disturbing and can be a good sign of serious psychological problems with the individual or individuals involved in the matter.

Sometimes this behavior is linked with sociopathic behaviors and should be dealt with and taken very seriously” (Gianotto, 2001). There is a link between abuse in the home and with the animals themselves. Usually, if the abuser is hurting the animals, they are also hurting a family member or someone else.Many times with violence in the home of the abuser, they will kill or threaten to kill household pets to frighten family members into sexual abuse. This will cause them to remain silent about past or present abuse. Sometimes, they even do this to mentally torture their victims by extending their power over the victim or victims.

This is no way to treat an animal or the victim of these heinous crimes. The statistics of animal abuse for 2010 in the United States alone are “15,841 cases” (Gianotto, 2001) that were reported and the numbers are continuing to rise rapidly every day.In 2007, the in-media reported that “of the 1,880 cruelty cases” (Gianotto, 2001). Out of the cases “64. 5% which is 1,212 involved dogs, 18% or 337 involved were cats and the other 25% or 470 had involved other animals”( Gianotto, 2001). Out of this alarming number, pit bulls are the ones being abused the most because of dog fighting and they make up most of the numbers for canines.

Stevecat511(2002) from zootoo. com states that “The HSUS (Humane Society united states) estimates that nearly one million animals a year are abused or killed in connection with domestic violence cases”.Most of the animals being abused, come from homes were the abuser is not only abusing animals, but also others around them. This is a sad, but true fact, and if something is not done to help protect these animals, the numbers will continue to rise and the cases will only get more violent on both ends of the spectrum. Another topic is animal rights and just what are their rights. Some say, that animals have no rights, but believe it or not, they most certainly do.

Just like people, they have given rights that need to be protected too.Animal rights are a movement that is intended to help protect all animals from being exploited and abused by humans. Many people have opposing conflicts on this topic such as that of “moral philosophers insisting that animals have rights, and some strongly against the possibility” (Petrinovich, 1999, p175). There are many who believe that animals should not be hunted or used for foods that are being eaten every day, while others think that animals don’t deserve to have rights. Some people think that it is ok to kill for the lavish furs or skins of animals, just so they can have an item to flaunt around and this makes activists very angry.Animal rights have become a big controversial issue in our society today.

Are you for it or against it? Only you can make that decision. Let’s talk a minute about The Animal Rights Movement. The Animal Rights Movement can be traced back to the early 18th and 19th century. “In England in 1824, a society was founded to promote human treatment of work animals, such as cattle and horses, and even household pets”.

(Encyclopedia Britannica, v 6. 0, 2009). In “1822, a man by the name of Colonel Richard Martin organized a society that was called the SPCA to help enforce the law.Then in 1877, the AHA or the American Humane Association was founded and has emerged as the leading national advocate for the protection of animals and children, the two most abused victims today”(Encyclopedia Britannica, v 6.

0, 2009). To help with the enforcing of animal rights today there are a couple of steps that you can follow. Here are the four steps to follow when helping. “First, you should evaluate the situation. Look for signs of neglect and be sure to check at different times throughout the day.

Next, you want to report the information to the authorities, who can and will address the situation.Third, you need to understand the law” (Gianotto, 2001) Many states have laws that are very stiff and if not followed can lead to jail time and huge fines. To find out what the law is in your state, go to www. hsus. org and look for laws in your state.

The “fourth and final step is to prevent animal abuse by educating those around you” (Gianotto, 2001). Just by knowing these four steps, we can make a difference in an animal’s life, so they are safer and can live a happy, healthy life. It is extremely important that you report the information to the authorities because if you don’t, it can eventually get worse and most possibly end in death.The better educated people become and the more people educating this issue to others, the more the numbers will begin to decline and it will be a safer place for all animals. There are many who believe this is a controversial issue and that it is only an animal.

What do they need protecting from? As stated on WorldNet daily by Robert Bidinotto (2003), in his manifest against environmentalism and animal rights, “rights establish boundaries among those who process them”. “Since the animal can’t recognize boundaries, they should not be granted legal powers against human beings” (Mercer, 2003).This is a controversial issue because some believe that the animal should have that power and deserves justice, while others just sit back and laugh at the whole situation. Many people feel that they should not get involved because it is not there place, but they are very wrong and this could lead to trouble.

There are many factors that accompany this situation like, what do I do, who do I call, and will they even come out and check. Some people just turn their heads because they think it will continue to happen anyway.Always make that effort to help out that animal and call the authorities if something does not seem right. Understanding what animal abuse and neglect is and how you can help, is the first step to ending this problem in our country today. Remembering to always report what you see, will help in the decline of abuse cases.

No animal should have to pay the price for someone else’s enjoyment and anger issues. Only you can make a difference; what you don’t say today can affect tomorrow. Will you be one of the ones that choose to help the animals today from the abuse tomorrow?