Final Paper Project


When people think of volunteering to help out the community, what most likely comes to mind is the soup kitchen, organizations like RAVE (Relief after Violent Encounter), or assisting the elderly. What is often forgotten is that there are others in our communities that deserve our support. No, I’m not talking about children or even the homeless. I am speaking out about those who have no voice- animals. Sure, we see the heart-rending commercials on TV from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) or the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) urging us to donate time or money to help those animals most in need but most of us don’t do anything other than change the channel. Although it is my opinion that we should not only be concerned with people of our community’s welfare but also with its animals. I have had my own experiences over the years with some of these helpless animals and it has strengthened my resolve to become a veterinarian in order to do what I can for them medically and, hopefully, be able to house a few in my veterinary clinic until someone can adopt them. It is not that I have no sympathy for the poor and destitute people but that I have the most compassion for animals. Here I shall detail a social activism and community issue that is closest to my heart with a brief description of the current fight for animals throughout the USA, share my experiences with these animals, give my reflections on social activism, and, hopefully, start, you the reader, on the path to helping these needy animals in your own way.

            The first thing you shall need to know is the definition of animal abuse. According to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), the definition for animal abuse is “the infliction of physical pain, suffering or death upon an animal, when not necessary for purposes of training or discipline or (in the case of death) to procure food or to release the animal from incurable suffering, but done wantonly, for mere sport, for the indulgence of a cruel and vindictive temper, or with reckless indifference to its pain.” This definition does not cover neglect expressly but there is no doubt that neglect is a huge part of animal abuse.

Animal neglect is defined as “is the failure to provide basic care required for an animal to thrive.” Neglect can be just as hurtful to an animal as blatantly injuring the animal. An animal without food, water, or any other basic necessities will soon long for death to end its suffering but death is long in coming. This is no way for an innocent animal to live. What if humans did the same things to each other? What if there was a camp where people were kept and never fed, never had water to drink, never were let out for any exercise, never given love or compassion? This situation reminds me of the Holocaust during World War II. If we are repulsed by the Holocaust then I hope we are just as repulsed by the same situation occurring worldwide to animals. In my mind, even this is not enough to impress upon anyone’s mind the immense horror and severity of this issue today.

 In order for one to get the full scope of the issue one must read horrifying such as that of pit fighting. For example, “in 2007, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick (1980- ) was arrested for running a dogfighting operation on his property in Virginia. He and his partners killed poor-fighting dogs by electrocuting, hanging, drowning, or beating the dogs to death” (http://facts.randomhistory.com). If this does not convince you I would suggest reading about this story where “a young medic described his training for his pre-Iraq duty. He was assigned to keep a pig alive. His pig was shot twice in the face with a 9mm pistol, shot six times with an AK-47, and then twice with a 12-guage shotgun. Then he was set on fire. The medic was able to keep him alive for 15 hours” (http://facts.randomhistory.com). As if shooting the defenseless animal wasn’t enough; they wanted to keep it suffering until its body just gave up. These are just two stories that really stood out to me. The scope of the animal abuse problem is much greater than even that. Thousands upon thousands of animal advocacy groups, shelters, and veterinary clinics are working hard to put an end to animal suffering but this just isn’t enough. According to the HSUS, “1,880 cruelty cases were reported in the media in 2007” alone. Just think of all that could have happened between then and now and how many cases of animal abuse were never recorded in the media or even reported!

Even if you are not directly involved in an animal abuse or neglect situation, there may be a way in which you are helping those are involved to continue abusing animals. One of the most shocking things I read about was on fur coats. We all know that animals are often skinned for their fur in order to make expensive clothing and coats that are now considered fashionable but I was surprised to find that even “fake fur coats” have a dark side. “Over 2 million dogs and cats are killed for their fur to produce fake fur coats” (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/animal-abuse-statistics.html). Another way in which you may be passively affecting animal abuse is by the purchasing of meat and other foods that come from animals like eggs. “Over 95% of the animals deliberately killed each year in the U.S. are killed for food. If everyone in the U.S. were vegetarian, it would save around 6 billion animals every year” (http://facts.randomhistory.com).

Of course, there is always a second side to the story. Some of the most common reasons that people believe it is ethically sound to do what many would call abuse to animals because “animals do not have souls…humans are intellectually superior to animals…animals do not reason, think, or feel pain like humans do” or even “animals are a natural resource to be used as humans see fit” (http://facts.randomhistory.com/animal-cruelty-facts.html). If animals are a natural resource that we can use without shame, think of when children were used as laborers during the Industrial Revolution. Children were made to work long hours without rest for little wages. If any disobeyed, they were thrown out and if any child got injured, they were easily replaced. Animals are put through worse tortures that often mean their lives and are never given any recompense or even simple pity. It sickens me to think that, even in this “civilized” modern world, we still think we need to abuse animals to make progress.

What I wonder is what makes it ethically good for the strong to prey upon the weak and defenseless. This is no different than if you were to do experiments on bludgeoning children or the elderly. These people are defenseless and weak just like animals. Children and the elderly are given protection against being harmed, so why not animals.

As for the argument about pain; what makes you think they don’t. If you have an animal, you know that a swat on the bottom will scare a cat or make the cat attack your hand. This is not aggression- this is a defense mechanism in response to pain. Just because animals have different mechanisms to deal with pain doesn’t mean they don’t feel it.

There have been recent studies linking domestic violence to animal abuse. For example, “71% of domestic violence victims report that their abuser also targeted their animal (Ascione, 1997).” Similarly, animal abuse can affect future domestic violence. “Children who are exposed to domestic violence were three times more likely to be cruel to animals.” As this statistic shows, even children are not immune to becoming animal abusers. Even more surprising is the reasoning of some of the offenders as this statistic shows; “87% of these [animal abuse] incidents occurred in the presence of the women, and 75% in the presence of the children, to psychologically control and coerce them.”   In order to counteract this terrible circle of violence we must first teach our children how to interact with animals properly and take a stronger stand against domestic violence and animal abuse both with current offenders and future offenders. Everyone must know that animal abuse, especially coupled with domestic violence, is never okay and must be stopped if we are to end this vicious cycle.

I have had several experiences working with needy animals throughout my life so I’ll begin at the beginning. Since I was about 12 years old, my family and I have gone to the Shiawassee Humane Society to “socialize” with the animals there on occasion. The cages are dirty, smelly, and rather cold but these are the lucky ones. The others are out on the street somewhere or in even more cramped, disgusting spaces. I had had my own run-ins with strays for quite some time but this was the first I saw of what real animal suffering looks like. I certainly don’t blame the humane society; their only intention is to provide a home for these animals but I could never shake off the feeling that if this is a shelter, what kind of life did they come from? When I stepped into the dog room, I began reading the tags for each animal. Some of these tags held the dog’s life story as the shelter knew it and they were certainly not pretty. These animals had been fighters, been beaten, cast out of their homes not knowing where they would go, maybe even run over by cars and left for dead. Every cage was full and each dog was only too happy to have company. Some people mistake a shelter dog’s enthusiasm for aggression but I know only too well that all these dogs need is exercise, a proper place to call home, and a loving family to care for them in order for them to relax and be comfortable.

I also have had plenty of experience in a professional veterinary clinic setting. Thursdays after school were spent at the Clay-Mar Veterinary Clinic and I was so glad to see the puppies and kittens that were being cared for there but it broke my heart to see some of the long-suffering animals in there. The owners would never see the inside of a veterinary office unless it were a dire emergency in which place the dog or cat was so far past saving it was ridiculous or if they wanted to dispose of their poor animals for various reasons. The worst cases I saw personally were those of animals who had matted fur with mites or flea and ticks on every exposed portion of skin, were lethargic, and were in such pain from lumps on various body parts that they would have to be put down immediately to relieve their suffering. Another sad case happened when a pair of women brought in a couple of cats that they wanted put down. Why? These cats had nothing medically wrong with them; the owners only wanted to be rid of them. Thankfully, the veterinarian I worked for found a better home for them with one of her other clients. These and other experiences I have had in the veterinary office have convinced me to pursue a career in veterinary medicine and dedicate my life to the care of animals which will benefit us-the animals and me- quite a lot I believe. I think the next step for me was to begin one-on-one training with dogs and cats not only for my education but for their benefit. I didn’t have to wait long for my first chance.

This last summer my family and I had the opportunity to begin fostering dogs with the New Hope Pet Rescue. At first I didn’t believe there could be as many “kill shelters” as there are. The majority of the animals I had to pick from to foster were perfectly decent dogs that, just because of overcrowding, were to be euthanized soon. In my opinion, if you are going to call a facility a “shelter” then your main job is to shelter animals not kill them off. Naturally, I wanted to foster all of them but we ended up only fostering three though I got the sense I had done something important for once. The dogs that we fostered were sweet and loving not aggressive or destructive like their situation would imply. I couldn’t believe that these perfectly decent animals would have been killed if not for our fostering them. Not only did my family and I help give those three dogs new homes with loving owners but it gave me a sense of purpose-of doing the right thing- however tough that is. The three dogs we fostered increased my resentment toward animal abusers and neglectors, effectively strengthening my resolve toward my intended career and my desire to do more for the defenseless animals in my community.

If you read this essay and decide that I make a decent argument and you want to know what you can do to help I have a few suggestions from various sources. You may wish to do as I did and foster or help out at your local shelter or you may wish to be more proactive. If you like the political scene, the ASPCA recommends that you contact your local senator and ask them to support bills for animal rights laws or laws against animal cruelty or attend advocacy events. If you would rather be one-on-one with the animals you could adopt an animal from your local shelter or humane society. Boycotting commercial puppy stores that are not part of the ASPCA’s list of stores offering adoptions is another way to help. These stores usually get their puppies from puppy mills that abuse their animals and treat their female dogs even worse as they may artificially inseminate them in order to produce the maximum amount of puppies in the shortest amount of time. This can often lead to various health issues and even behavioral issues like aggression or separation anxiety. Lastly, you could promote spaying and neutering to help keep shelters from overcrowding and being forced to become “kill shelters.” I am certain any little thing you do will help the current fight against animal cruelty in the long run.

Animal abuse has been a long-running social issue that not many people think of daily. We hear news stories on droughts, famines, murders, and the like but these events are centered on human suffering. We need to open our eyes to the world of animal suffering that occurs just as often as human suffering and is often covered up and forgotten about soon afterwards. Not only does animal abuse stem from misguided ethics but also can be triggered by other violent behaviors like domestic violence. We all need to be aware of the terrible situation many animals are placed in on a day-to-day basis and do all we can to care for these mistreated creatures.
                                                          

                                                              Bibliography
98 Important Facts about Animal Cruelty. 23 Apr. 2013. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. <http://facts.randomhistory.com/animal-cruelty-facts.html>.
Baxamusa, Batul N. Animal Abuse Statistics. N.p., 14 Mar. 2012. Web. 17 Nov. 2014. <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/animal-abuse-statistics.html>.
Facts About Animal Abuse & Domestic Violence. American Humane Association, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. <http://www.americanhumane.org/interaction/support-the-bond/fact-sheets/animal-abuse-domestic-violence.html>.
Animal Cruelty Facts and Statistics. Humane Society of the United States, 29 Oct. 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. <http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/abuse_neglect/facts/animal_cruelty_facts_statistics.html>.
Top 10 Ways to Prevent Animal Cruelty. ASPCA, n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2014. <https://www.aspca.org/fight-cruelty/report-animal-cruelty/top-10-ways-to-prevent-animal-cruelty>.

 

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