Animal cruelty: causes, prevention, and legal frameworks

Animal Cruelty

Persuasive Argument

The purpose of this paper is to present a persuasive argument against the practice of animal cruelty:

Animal cruelty activists state that when an individual is a witness to animal cruelty that the offense should be reported to the agency in the area in which they live. There are laws against cruelty to animals and the laws differ from state to state inside the United States. Many organizations have been formed for assisting the government in stopping the practice of animal cruelty by both individuals as well as that committed by businesses and larger corporate organizations.

Animal Cruelty Reported by News:

Recently reported is the fact that animals used by companies such as "Menu Foods" regularly treat animals with cruelty in regards to the research done by the companies in testing of dog and cat food before marketing it. According to one report an investigator from PETA

was witness for many dogs with "their legs caught in bars of slated steel cage floors."

Further the report stated that the investigator for PETA found that the cats were not receiving the proper care and that several had died from lack of treatment. According to the report the investigation was ongoing for a period of nine months and during that time not once did the investigator see anyone from Menu Foods check or observe the conditions of the animals.

Statistics and Other Information:

In a report entitled "Linking Animal Cruelty to Human Violence" performed by the FBI and Scotland Yard it was found that violence inflicted on animals is one of the key five indicators of whether a person has the capacity to commit violence against other human beings. The report stated that all of the states in the United States "have felony offenses for animal cruelty" in which a person may receive a prison sentence of up to ten years.

Further reported in the article was that in a U.S. Poll asking respondents if they supported the strengthening of animal cruelty laws that 81% supported the initiative with 71% in favor of making animal cruelty offenses felony charges, and 87% responding saying that wild animals as well as pets should be under this type protection.

Studies show that animal abusers may suffer from "low self-esteem, a history of family abuse, frustration and anger"

management problems. Further studies have show that out of 135 criminals 118 of them admit to burning, hanging and stabbing domestic animals as children.

Of 39 women who had suffered domestic abuse by their partners 61% stated that their partners had "threatened, injured of killed"

their pets. Of those interviewed, 58% of sexual homicide perpetrators who suffered from being abused sexually as children were able to recall cruelty to animals as children.

Symptoms and Signs of Animal Abuse:

If an animal does not have access to food and to water as well as shelter, and if the animal does not have a clear area or has untreated injuries then abuse should be reported. Other signs of abuse are over-aggressive behavior or extremely timid behavior on the part of the animal. Abandonment of an animal is also considered abuse.

Actions when Witnessing the Abuse of an Animal:

Local authorities are able to receive animal cruelty reports. If there is not one listed in your neighborhood or town then contacting an organization such as PETA which is People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is a good place to start.

Conclusion:

There is absolutely no reason or justification for society tolerating abuse to animals. Animals are unable to defend themselves in most instances from the onslaught of abuse from a human being. As the statistics and reports in this work demonstrate the individual who commits abuse to an animal is very likely and in most cases will choose a human being for their victim at some point in time. It may seen overly zealous to incarcerate the individual who abuses animals but when studies clearly show that those individuals are much more likely to commit aggressive offenses against humans then it makes perfect sense to toughen the response to criminals who perpetrate abuse against helpless and defenseless animals.