Should animal cruelty laws be stricter?

Ashley Graham12/13/12

CRE 101 Final ProjectInstructor: Phyllis Salsedo

Introduction:Animal cruelty encompasses a range of behaviors

harmful to animals, from neglect to malicious killing.

Most cruelty investigated by humane officers is unintentional neglect that can be resolved through education.

Intentional cruelty, or abuse, is knowingly depriving an animal of food, water, shelter, socialization, or veterinary care or maliciously torturing, maiming, mutilating, or killing an animal.

Cartoon:

I feel this cartoon photo is fitting because breeders are in a way committing a form of animal cruelty. Breeding should not be allowed. There are too many animals that are in shelters that need to be rescued instead of breeders making money off of their pets. Pets should be a part of your family, not a source of income.

Courtesy of Animal Welfare Cartoons NRT

Photograph:Seeing this photo absolutely breaks my heart and makes me extremely angry at the same time. The thought of starving and neglecting this poor dog is sickening. How would you like to be that poor innocent dog purposely starved to death?

Sarah McLachlan Animal Cruelty Video and Advertisement for the BCSPCA: http://youtu.be/9gspElv1yvc - Click on link to view video.

New Jersey 2010: Dozens of Mercy For Animals advertisements urged commuters on the New Jersey Transit rail system to ditch meat in place of a compassionate, vegetarian diet. Source: http://www.mercyforanimals.org/advertisements.aspx

Statistics & Facts: Each year, 10,000 bull dogs die in bullfighting. Women in abusive relationships often don't leave their abuser

because they worry what will happen to their pet if they leave. 13% of animal abuse involves domestic violence. 70% of animal abusers also have records of other crimes. 3 to 4 million cats and dogs (young, healthy and adoptable) are

euthanized every year in shelters.  Animals that aren't euthanized are often sent to no-kill shelters

where the animals are caged for days, weeks, months or years and the animals risk becoming insane and dying of loneliness.

Millions of day-old male chicks are killed in a high capacity macerator because they are worthless to the egg industry.

In the United States alone, 1.13 million animals are used in testing and research every year.

More than 15 million warm blooded animals are used in research world wide.

Scientists estimate that 100 species of animals go extinct every day.

Statistics & Facts continued:What to Look for in Animal Abuse and Cruelty in Cats and

Dogs: Malnutrition Hair Loss Unexplained injuries, health problems or permanent disabilities Being left in extreme heat for more than 15 minutes Animal Hoarding Engaging in dog or cock fighting or attending the "games" Shock collar, electric fences and prong collar training Ways to Prevent Animal Cruelty Know who to contact in your area if you suspect animal abuse.

You can call your local police department for the information. Teach your kids and other children how to treat animals and to

respect them as living creatures like ourselves. Support the local shelter or society and get to know the work they

are involved in. 

Speech:This is an informal speech given by a young girl under

username Derkasaurous, on you tube. Unfortunately I didn’t find many speeches regarding animal cruelty or any that were famous. So I decided to go with this girl’s meaningful speech.

http://youtu.be/kxIxkp0FefQ - click on hyperlink to view her speech.

The language given in this speech feels very similar to how I would be if I were giving this speech myself. Her passion for fighting animal cruelty really shows in her tone and are expressed in the words chosen.

Animals deserve to be treated with respect and should have the chance to live a happy life just like the rest of the human population. Writer Helen Cothran agrees with all of this and strongly feels that “There is no doubt that animals experience a life, certainly the vertebrates (animals with backbones), and possibly others. Like us, animals can feel pain and fear, but also excitement and satisfaction. Close contact with animals show that they look forward to some events, and can clearly get a lot of enjoyment from their lives, be it from basking in the sun, exercising, eating a favorite food, or interacting with others as in playing and mutual grooming. Certainly animals don’t have the same abilities as humans. They can’t talk, write books or drive cars, but neither can some humans. Do we say that humans who lack these abilities have no rights? Certainly not, because those people still experience a life which can be filled with positive or negative events. We don’t ask how intelligent a person is before we decide whether to eat them or experiment on them. Regardless of intelligence, their life still has value to them. Exactly the same is true of animals. In spite of species differences, we have in common the capacity for experience.”

Be as it should be, animals deserve everything human beings do especially the right to a happy life with food, water and plenty of play time. Animal cruelty should not be tolerated in the United States and laws need to be stricter.

•Animal Cruelty-Neglect. Pet-Abuse.com. 2, Feb. 2007. http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/home.php. December 6, 2012.

•Cothran, Helen. Animal Experimentation: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, CA. Szumski, Bonnie: 2002. December 2, 2012.

•Aspca.org. December 2, 2012•Humanesociety.org. December 2, 2012