We need to do something about animal abuse

By: Natalie B.

       Animals are a big part of our lives. Some of us couldn’t live without our pets. And imagine your animal getting hit and hurt. How would you react?   People hurting animals is called animal abuse. Animal abuse is nothing new; it’s been around for thousands of years. Animal abuse is a terrible thing, resulting in the animal being severely hurt or killed. 

       Jazz was a cat who was seen being abused by a man in 2023. Her owner was seen kicking her down a pathway after putting his hands around her neck in an attempt to strangle her. He had punched her in the face, making her bleed from her mouth and knocking some of her teeth out. He then picked her up by her scruff  and threw her in a car parked in the street. She hit the car and slid down it. The witness picked her up, saw she was struggling to breathe, was soaked, and brought her to a nearby vet clinic. The vet checked her out and thought that the “owner” tried to drown the kitten. The cat had a dislocated tail and bruising around her neck. Jazz’s abuser has pleaded guilty and is now facing consequences. Jazz has recovered and is now living in a loving home. 

       Animal abuse affects so many animals a year. On average in the U.S ten million animals die from abuse each year. Every 60 seconds in the U.S an animal is abused. That sounds awful, so we have to do something about it. 

       Did you know that most animal abuse is connected with domestic violence? 50% to 70% of the time domestic violence is connected with animal abuse. Two of these things can happen; the abuser of the animal can want to abuse so much that they move on to people, or the person getting abused has an animal and the abuser hurts or even kills their pet. The abuser thinks that by hurting the pet they can terrorize the person they are abusing. It's a tactic to keep the person to stay with the abuser. 

       Around 16,000 dogs die from dog fighting per year. Dog fights still happen after being banned in all 50 states in the U.S. This is a major problem. These dog fighting events slide under the shadows  and happen either late at night or early in the morning to hide and cover up all they do. They use treadmills specially built to help the dog get stronger. They tie down the dogs with chains not long enough to have contact with the other dogs, which makes them get riled up. Some even starve the dogs before their match for them to be hungry and want to eat the other dog. Some force their dogs to tread in a water pool to strengthen their legs.  Unfortunately, the dog who doesn't win the fight either already died in the fight or they kill after the dog surrenders in the fight. Some even starve their dog before they fight to be more hungry to get the other dog; some starve them up to a day before they fight. After fights dogs can feel shaky, aggressive, or just flat out terrified. They can also struggle with mood changes, behavior, and mental health after fights. 

       Animal abuse is hurtful and should not be tolerated any longer. It hurts these animals, and some never get another chance at life. Some animals get a new start but still have trauma. We can do better; it will never be perfect, but at least we can help some animals. The physical abuse that some do to animals we can never control, but we can help others to have a second chance at life.