This past summer while shadowing at an equine veterinary clinic I was asked to hand walk a horse who was acting up in his stall. He was a beautiful black stallion, and I felt power and fear radiating from him. When I took him outside, I saw why he was there. A huge raw cut covered a quarter of his flank, the skin had been ripped away, exposing the red damaged muscles underneath. This had happened when he spooked after being handled by his rescue family and he had ran into barbed wire. They had just rescued him from an abusive situation where he was used as an entertainment animal. I had heard, seen, and handled the after effects animal cruelty before, but it never never hit me as hard as it did when I was walking this skittish horse. The public
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The United States lags behind in its anti cruelty measures for animals, compared to other developed countries. Critics of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) say that it doesn't do much because enforcement is poor, and there is little protection for animals. In addition, AWA exempts some circuses from these laws (“Entertainment Animals”). The American federal laws are vague and do not cover all the levels of cruelty. If an abuser is charged, under federal laws they can only be charged civilly which means fines, confiscating of animals, and service hours. State and local laws can cover that gap with their own laws about animal abusers, but there are still many places where these go unenforced. Phillips and Jan Creamer founded ADI (Animal Defenders International). After arranging an undercover team to infiltrate circuses, they started gathering evidence. They uncovered shocking footage showing horrible animal conditions. Their work led to Bolivia banning domesticated and wild animals in their circuses in 2009. When not all complied to this change of law, ADI tracked down and rescued the animals (Christian). ADI works with governments to help make laws and enforce them. Through language barriers, hostile encounters, and customs, ADI and similar groups are fighting for the freedom of entertainment
The United States lags behind in its anti cruelty measures for animals, compared to other developed countries. Critics of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) say that it doesn't do much because enforcement is poor, and there is little protection for animals. In addition, AWA exempts some circuses from these laws (“Entertainment Animals”). The American federal laws are vague and do not cover all the levels of cruelty. If an abuser is charged, under federal laws they can only be charged civilly which means fines, confiscating of animals, and service hours. State and local laws can cover that gap with their own laws about animal abusers, but there are still many places where these go unenforced. Phillips and Jan Creamer founded ADI (Animal Defenders International). After arranging an undercover team to infiltrate circuses, they started gathering evidence. They uncovered shocking footage showing horrible animal conditions. Their work led to Bolivia banning domesticated and wild animals in their circuses in 2009. When not all complied to this change of law, ADI tracked down and rescued the animals (Christian). ADI works with governments to help make laws and enforce them. Through language barriers, hostile encounters, and customs, ADI and similar groups are fighting for the freedom of entertainment