Persuasive : We should be doing more to prevent animal cruelty. Everyday, all over the world, animals are mistreated and abused by incompetent, cruel owners; often just to satisfy human pleasures. We are supporting the abuse and ignoring simple rights that they should have. For instance, do you agree that a dog has the right not to have pain inflicted on him or her unnecessarily? Infuriating and heartbreaking: we are still standing by and allowing this to happen. It is even more sickening when we realise that, everyday, ignoring the cat down the street being kicked by its owner or selecting what perfume or make-up to buy in our favourite shop- we may actually be contributing to the abuse of animals. Whether, a neglectful owner or science technician, we must do more to reduce this horrible reality. A huge number of the domestic animals are suffering in terrible conditions. Domestic abuse is prevalent in all areas of society today. Millions of domestic animals never know a caring human touch and live hard lives on the street before dying painful deaths. The three most common pets abused are dogs, cats and horses. To put this into a shocking reality, in the year 2007, the internet source buzzle.com, declared that a dreadful 64.5 percent of dogs were reported with some sort of abuse, 18 percent of cats suffered at the hands of mindless humans and 25 percent of other animal species[->0] were reported to have undergone some sort of cruelty. This is in comparison to the total 47 percent of humans aged 16 to 59 who have suffered one or more types of abuse; discovered by NSPCC(National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children). Since 2007 the number of animal cruelty cases has increased rapidly, leaving millions of animals in complete misery all over the world. There are different reasons why individuals may abuse animals; some do it for sick pleasure whereas others demonstrate this sickening behaviour as a result of domestic violence they, themselves have experienced. If the rates are so high and the range of abuse is so horrifying then why are we not doing more to prevent it? If these statistics shock you then you are proof that not enough is known and perhaps as a result done. Animal cruelty can be active or passive. Active cruelty implies spiteful intent, where a person has deliberately and intentionally caused harm to an animal. Among all the mistreated animals in the world, dogs are subjected the most to horrific cruelty. A major example of this cruelty is the brutality of animals used for sports, predominately dog fighting. Even with the legal ban, people are continuing to make these poor dogs fight for human wealth and satisfaction. From the very beginning of their lives, the dogs are exposed to a cruel daily routine. Horrendously, they are starved of food to make them violent and, additionally, beaten up and weighed down by extremely heavy chains to make them tough. In some awful cases, these helpless animals are forced to do exhausting, human exercises to make them fit enough to win the trainers their reward. In some instances, the trainers bait the dogs with animals such as small puppies or cats. Then, having been tortured and deprived, the dogs are forced to attack the small animals, resulting in their death. Furthermore, trainers force the dogs to keep fighting through injuries by provoking them with sharp items. To what extent in any person’s mind, is this acceptable? Why is this horrible, disgusting sport used for entertainment? Awareness is vital. In a recent investigation, a man was jailed for six months, ordered to pay £1,000 and banned from keeping animals for ten years for possessing fighting dogs and cruelty to animals. According to a survey done in late 2009, the total number of people arrested due to dog fighting per year is about 2,500 and has undoubtedly risen since. So with such a high number of arrests it is clear to conclude that not enough is being done to deter people. These poor animals are appallingly mistreated, and it has to stop.

5th November. A spectacular night for most. The sky punctuated by lights; screams at the sizzles; explosions in a dozen hues. Though for some unfortunate animals this can be a torturous experience as a result of cruel, mindless individuals subjecting these poor creatures to horrendous ordeals. Every year we hear incidents on the news of animals being badly injured or horrifically killed by ‘thugs’ who find being cruel to animals amusing! In 2009, there was an incident where a cat died after suffering terrible burns when thugs strapped a firework to her back and set it alight. Why anyone would commit this awful, malicious stunt on a small harmless cat? I’m sure any other sane person would agree. Equally worrying is the fact that these things happen every year. Yet, every year the government urges people to play safe with fireworks; presenting frightening scenarios of a child adding extra wood to the top of a burning bonfire, or holding a sparkler too close to their face. Accident and Emergency departments employ extra staff and ambulances on standby and we are urged to keep our pets indoors. Passive cruelty- neglect and abandonment is still equally a problem in our culture today. 27 percent of animal cruelty cases are categorised as ‘neglect’- making it the most common type of abuse. This statistic, taken from a website ‘Youth noise.com’, highlights the severity of the problem in society today. The question is, why are there still households with more pets than family members? Why do these people have pets when it is clear that they ignore their basic necessities? Maybe this is why we witness the occasional beaten up dog or the bedraggled, deprived cat aimlessly scavenging around for food when we are busy going about our daily routine. Very often, the person will buy many pets irresponsibly for their pleasure and then simply don’t provide adequate care for them: leaving them without food, water or shelter. In some cases the animal may have been deprived of necessary veterinary care or perhaps just merely been forgotten about. In many circumstances it is down to the caretaker’s complete ignorance and laziness that animals suffer as much as they do. It is absolutely sickening to think of animals been kept in such awful conditions. How could anyone mistreat or continue to neglect an animal that is blatantly skin and bones? The law states: “in order to protect animals from future harm, our priority in many prosecution cases is for people who are convicted to be banned from keeping animals”. With such a lenient punishment there is no wonder so many animals continue to get abused and neglected time and time again. More has to be done in order for improvement. Consider indeed the farm animals that some keep as pets. For instance, think about the horses that are so thin their ribs are showing. In 2008, the ‘Telegraph’ reported that “eighty-four emaciated horses, ponies and donkeys were rescued from a field, where they were discovered alongside 31 dead animals, in one of the biggest operations of its kind”. This appalling incident was due to the horrific neglect of these animals. The horses were extremely poorly treated. To me it epitomises similar examples taking place behind closed doors- not in open fields. The man responsible for this awful situation was rightfully arrested. Although in principle this is good, there are not enough examples like this to stop this horrifying reality. The ‘Shocking cruelty found in Indonesian zoos’ is only one of the headlines that reveals the disturbing truth behind the captivity of animals in zoos and circuses; places you would (wrongly) assume are saturated with people who have a genuine interest in animals. Neglected and subjected to cruel behaviour. This horrendous cruelty is happening more than society would believe. The ‘World Society for the Protection of Animals’ (WSPA) wrote an upsetting report after visiting ten of the zoos in Indonesia. They discovered that a staggering 99 percent of the enclosures were too small for the animals needs, 82 percent did not give animals enough space in their cages and 68 percent did not keep their enclosures clean. The animals were neglected so badly that they had to drink from dirty dishes and basically were starved of food and water. Some were chained to cages, whereas others were forced to entertain the visitors. This dreadful reality effectively demonstrates the horror that animals face every single day in some countries. Why has this not been dealt with before? How do zoos get away with this alarming conduct for so long, when hundreds of people visit it everyday? Alertness is key. Animal welfare groups are trying to move mistreated animals to animal rescue centres but with so much cruelty unidentified in so many zoos, a difference is not being made. The idea of a zoo itself is bad enough. Tourists pay to be entertained by extraordinary animals. However it only encourages the concept of keeping animals captive, depriving them of their natural habitat. What we must keep first and foremost in our minds is that in some zoos animals are denied their most basic requirements such as exercise, social interaction and bathing. Furthermore, birds are stripped of their most precious gift- flight. Although zoos try to create a resemblance to the animals’ natural habitat, they are still denied their freedom. The statistics prove that this is the norm in the majority of cases. From that we can conclude that not enough is being done. It is a major concern that people’s morals do seem to be slipping in society today and consequently animal welfare is one area paying a high price. The ill-treatment of animals through financial incentive, neglect and people’s entertainment appears secondary to the selfish requirements of the human race. As coexisting members of our planet we need to take positive steps to ensure these creatures have a quality of life equal to that of human beings. Such steps may include making donations to animal welfare organisations, or simply reporting any unusual behaviour directed at animals. These minimal efforts and contributions are guaranteed to make a huge change to some animal’s life and would certainly be more than we are currently doing.

Sources used:

o www.Peta.org[->1] o www.idausa.org[->2] o http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/animals/newsid o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_fighting o www.buzzle.com[->3] o www.youthnoise.com[->4] o http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk o http://www.aspcapro.org/dog-fighting-faq.php#laws o http://wiki.answers.com o http://www.rspca.org.uk/in-action/whatwedo/prosecution o http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/prevent_abuse.

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[->0] - http://www.buzzle.com/articles/animal-species/
[->1] - http://www.Peta.org
[->2] - http://www.idausa.org
[->3] - http://www.buzzle.com
[->4] - http://www.youthnoise.com