Sarah Juffer
Bakle
Honors English 9
9/25/17
Animal Cruelty It has been estimated that there are 900 to 2,000 new cases of animal hoarding every year in the United States alone, leaving at least 250,000 animals falling victim(dosomething.com). This is just one of the many forms of abuse that owners inflict on their pets. The social issue of pet abuse occurs across the U.S. each year. The two main forms of abuse are neglect and intentional cruelty. Neglect is when an owner fails to provide a pet with its basic needs such as food, water, and shelter. Intentional cruelty is when an owner purposely inflicts physical harm or injury on an animal. Many pet abusers go unpunished for their actions because of the fact that animal cruelty laws are often …show more content…
The first thing that someone who believes that there is abuse going on needs to do is look closely at the situation. Sometimes it only looks like abuse, when really for example there is a dog door that can’t be seen or the owner feeds their pet at early hours. If the someone witnesses or suspects abuse, then they need to call their local humane society or police. Some sure signs of neglect are no shelter, collar too tight, lack of grooming, mange, and starvation. The witness can offer to testify or sign a complaint. It is important for people to know that witnesses to abuse are uncommon, so they may be the only account for the trial. In the event that there is a threat to the animal’s immediate safety, the witness should inform the officer of that over the phone. The witness should never try to rescue the animal themselves, it is not only illegal but possibly unsafe(americanhumane.org). This is the process that should be used to detect abuse and send people to court to face the new laws that will be put in …show more content…
This will prevent animal abuse because people will not want to face the harsher punishments. In Indiana, one of the best states concerning the animal protection laws, an abuser can receive anywhere from a $500 to $10,000 fine and 1 to 3 years in prison. In Kentucky, ranked for the lowest animal cruelty laws, an offender can receive a $500 fine or one year in jail(dopplr.com). These laws closely relate to how many cases of animal cruelty there are. In Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, California, Maine, and Oregon, there are very few cases of animal cruelty because these are the states with harsher abuse laws. In states like Kentucky, New Mexico, Alabama, South Carolina, and Iowa, there are many more cases of animal abuse, as these are the states that were the lowest ranked on abuse laws(aldf.org). One suggestion is to make the animal abuse laws the same across all fifty states. This would make it so that people who abuse their pets cannot remain in one state to avoid punishment. The laws that would be kept would have to be the ones from places with harsh punishments like Illinois. The laws could also be based on the case. For example, the more animals there are and how badly they were abused would determine their punishments. The evidence above shows that harsher punishments do indeed prevent animal abuse from
Bakle
Honors English 9
9/25/17
Animal Cruelty It has been estimated that there are 900 to 2,000 new cases of animal hoarding every year in the United States alone, leaving at least 250,000 animals falling victim(dosomething.com). This is just one of the many forms of abuse that owners inflict on their pets. The social issue of pet abuse occurs across the U.S. each year. The two main forms of abuse are neglect and intentional cruelty. Neglect is when an owner fails to provide a pet with its basic needs such as food, water, and shelter. Intentional cruelty is when an owner purposely inflicts physical harm or injury on an animal. Many pet abusers go unpunished for their actions because of the fact that animal cruelty laws are often …show more content…
The first thing that someone who believes that there is abuse going on needs to do is look closely at the situation. Sometimes it only looks like abuse, when really for example there is a dog door that can’t be seen or the owner feeds their pet at early hours. If the someone witnesses or suspects abuse, then they need to call their local humane society or police. Some sure signs of neglect are no shelter, collar too tight, lack of grooming, mange, and starvation. The witness can offer to testify or sign a complaint. It is important for people to know that witnesses to abuse are uncommon, so they may be the only account for the trial. In the event that there is a threat to the animal’s immediate safety, the witness should inform the officer of that over the phone. The witness should never try to rescue the animal themselves, it is not only illegal but possibly unsafe(americanhumane.org). This is the process that should be used to detect abuse and send people to court to face the new laws that will be put in …show more content…
This will prevent animal abuse because people will not want to face the harsher punishments. In Indiana, one of the best states concerning the animal protection laws, an abuser can receive anywhere from a $500 to $10,000 fine and 1 to 3 years in prison. In Kentucky, ranked for the lowest animal cruelty laws, an offender can receive a $500 fine or one year in jail(dopplr.com). These laws closely relate to how many cases of animal cruelty there are. In Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, California, Maine, and Oregon, there are very few cases of animal cruelty because these are the states with harsher abuse laws. In states like Kentucky, New Mexico, Alabama, South Carolina, and Iowa, there are many more cases of animal abuse, as these are the states that were the lowest ranked on abuse laws(aldf.org). One suggestion is to make the animal abuse laws the same across all fifty states. This would make it so that people who abuse their pets cannot remain in one state to avoid punishment. The laws that would be kept would have to be the ones from places with harsh punishments like Illinois. The laws could also be based on the case. For example, the more animals there are and how badly they were abused would determine their punishments. The evidence above shows that harsher punishments do indeed prevent animal abuse from