There's your trouble.

The trouble with animal abuse is that even though Every state in the United States and the District of Columbia has a law prohibiting cruelty to animals, "These laws do not give animals rights" (straypetadvocacy.org).. So this means that without justifiable cause that an animal is being abused, they are exempted to the right of a humane lifestyle with a family that will care for them. Isn't it believed that humans originally evolved from animals, and in that case, why should we have lists upon lists of rights when our furry friends do not have the simplest one? To live healthily. Along with this, the charges that the accused receive is slim in many states, and I think that needs to be changed and stricter. In the states of Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota, and South Dakota there are no penalties to cruelty to animals. And in some states like TN the most time that an individual will receive in prison is 9 months and no fine. There needs to be a government standard in accordance to causing intentional harm to domesticated animals. If there was, I would suggest at least a one year sentence on top of a hefty fine. If this was enacted, there would be expectations that national ads can print and organizations can begin to reach out to get more attention about. With such a range of charges it becomes difficult to have a commercial reaching to all 50 states when it does not apply to them all. Lastly in terms of the media, even though many organizations have been steady with their public awareness commercials-specifically of the adoption issue and lack of funding-it is clear that the consequences are not listed. If the public is not educated on the sentencing that can occur after causing harm to an animal like this, there is no way that they will be able to understand the seriousness of the matter. The action that needs to take place now is showing the people in our communities the real facts, that you can get jail time of more than 5 years in some states for crimes against animals. PSA's need to begin speaking out on this problem, and boldly drawing the lines for the public to see that they can and will be charged to the fullest extent. If all we do is smack a fine in somebody's face for their neglect, it will influence them just as much as a parking ticket. Do we really think a life is worth a dollar amount? http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/cruelty_laws.php

Animals in Entertainment: The Downfall

Animals are abused and exploited in a variety of forms of "entertainment." One of the main focuses are on the use of animals in circuses; elephants, lions, tigers, and other animals are sentenced to a lifetime of misery in order to provide a few moments of human amusement. Using animals in circuses is an unnecessary and inhumane practice that's harmful to both the animals and the public. Unlike the human performers who choose to work in circuses, exotic animals are forced to take part in the show. They are involuntary actors in a program that degrades them and deprives them of their natural behaviors. Government inspection reports reveal ongoing mistreatment of animals in circuses, as well as failures to provide the basic minimal standards of care required by law. Animals used in circuses have been injured and killed, and have injured and killed humans. The tricks that animals are forced to perform, night after night, are frightening, unnatural, and even painful. “Standard circus industry practice is to use bullhooks and other objects to poke, prod, strike, shock, and hit animals in order to "train" them. Industries also claim that they only train animals to do the types of tricks they might naturally perform in their native habitat. But common sense dictates that elephants in the wild don't eagerly stand on their heads and that tigers don't naturally jump through hoops.” (bornfreeusa.org). Animals in circuses spend about 11 months of the year traveling and spend thousands of hours, are chained are chained in vehicles that lack climate control, and force them to stand or lie in their own waste. Circuses may seem like a friendly form of entertainment, but not many about the horrors that occur behind the scenes. What circuses are really teaching children is that it’s acceptable to exploit and mistreat animals for amusement. While circuses are the main source of animal abuse in entertainment, places such as marine parks, zoos, aquariums, animal race tracks, fighting venues, and move/television programs also exploit animals on a daily basis. We as race get so wrapped up in our own need for entertainment that we forget that animals are being abused regularly for our sake.

Animoto 2

Animoto 2


Story of the canines abandoned and left to roam Puerto Rico.

Animal Abuse

Animal Abuse

Less gore, more focus on the real issue.

During this week’s initial research on the cruelty of animals, specifically canines, Michelle and I decided to look through the general cases of abuse and stories that have shown up in the news and write about how we would like to respond to them. The first one that we came across described numerous events of neglect towards domestic dogs living with incapable owners. The article also describes the ways which the dogs were mistreated and how it has lead towards many stricter laws for future caretakers, but even though there are specialized police force out there like the ASPCA, most animal injuries go unnoticed. Even with the addition of stronger laws that are meant to protect these animals by setting a standard of harsher jail times and fees attached to the abusers, there is no way for these people to come to the realization that, “oh maybe I actually could get in pretty serious trouble by doing this” because of the serious lack of PSA’s in the US. Online articles may depict the stories of the animals and punishments that went along with it, but if I were not doing research on the subject, I would not ever come across it. The focus is more on showing the graphic nature of the abuse to the readers, maybe because of the gore factor, rather than giving the public more knowledge about recognizing the signs of an abuser, or the seriousness of animal cruelty. If the commercials for television took less emphasis on the need for funding the veterinary shelters and more towards the facts of jail time for criminals. The dollar a day fund only asks for money and shows a picture of a skinny dog. Instead what they should be doing is linking together both of the topics, or creating multiple advertisements where they can merge the focus groups. As important as I believe it is to fund a great project, I think that is only half the battle. Maybe we should be more concerned with stopping the acts before they are committed, and then shelters and animal hospitals will not have to continue to expand with rising populations.

http://fortheloveofthedogblog.com/news-updates/dogs-that-inspired-stronger-animal-cruelty-laws