Animal Abuse in America

Animal abuse and animal cruelty is one of the most violent crimes in America today but not a lot of people talk about it. Animal abuse includes many factors such as, abuse, neglect, terror taunting, and any form of distress upon an animal. Although in most cases animal abuse is physical, there is a factor known as psychological harm. The most common animals who suffer from these actions are dogs and cats. These harmful acts not only apply to animals that are known as “pets”, some of these abused animals range from dogs, cats, cows, horses, pigs, and even marine mammals.

To start off with animal neglect, this factor of animal abuse is the most common. The reason it’s the most common in America it’s because most people are not aware of what is considered neglect. Many things can fall in the category of neglect, including no shelter for animals, lack of grooming, starvation, and keeping an animal tied up is also a form of neglect. The reason I say most people are not aware of this it’s because it has become so normalized for pet owners to keep their dogs tied up as a form of safety but it can really harm animals. A really tight collar can even cause death.

Now to go on about psychological abuse to animals, it is the second most common form of animal abuse. Many studies even go as far as to say psychological abuse is worse than physical abuse. It is something that animals suffer in silence and mental health can really affect the animal’s life. These examples of psychological abuse include, harassment, isolation, terror, and of course abandonment. Also, pressuring an animal to commit an act they do not want to do is a form of psychological abuse.

These acts will have a different outcome in animals, their behavior will change drastically. Some of these behavioral changes including, beginning to live in fear with any human contact. Other animals can also suffer from severe depression and anxiety. This anxiety will make them lose their appetite, and lack of sleep. Another form of anxiety can be separation anxiety, this will occur when animals chose to isolate themselves from anybody because of their fear.

As mentioned, not only animals that are considered “pets” are abused. Farming animals are the most abused animals in America today and nobody does nothing to stop it. Chickens are a great example of this, a close to nine billion chickens are killed for food and egg laying production. Another huge product of food are pigs, they are also killed and kept in inhumane conditions. These conditions also apply to cows all over the world but especially in the U.S, it is one thing to use animals as a source of food and another to abuse them and torture them while doing it.

The abuse of farm animals is highly critiqued because of the simple fact most people consume meat but they don’t agree with the way factory farms treat the animals. There are many ways these factory farms can improve starting with not keeping animals caged up and letting them be free. Most animals are not allowed to see sunlight or walk around freeland. Giving animals their free space is also important for their health. Farms usually can’t fit all the animals in one place and they give animals no room to breathe. It is a fact most of these farming animals die from health issues before they get to be killed, all for the living conditions they are placed in.

Animal abuse and animal cruelty has been around for many years and it is even considered ancient history by now. Back in the 12th century, animal fighting began to get really popular in America. Animal fighting is when two animals were forced to fight each other as a form of entertainment. These animals ended in death in most cases or severely hurt. This type of abuse was very common because it was used as “betting game”, people bet money on the animals and won that money if the “opponent” of their chose won the fight. Similar to boxing now but back then animals were the opponents and they would not stop until they saw blood and death.

The animals that were used for fighting were roosters but the word quickly spread and it started being illegal in most places. People wanted to find an easier way and that’s when dogs began to be used as well. Specifically, bulldogs, people started to train their dogs to become more and more violent for these fights. This is also why there is a huge stigma about bulldogs being a really violent animal. The truth is, animal’s behavior changes with the way they are raised and bulldogs/pitbulls can actually be really nice, peaceful dogs.

Another huge form of animal cruelty in America now is animal testing. Animal cosmetic testing is something a lot of cosmetic brands do to test their ingredients. Animals face many dangers when testing many ingredients that can be toxic and also end in death. Companies rather put animals through such acts instead of their consumers. Luckily, most consumers are aware of this issue happening behind doors and refuse to purchase any cosmetics from brands that use animal testing. This has helped many cosmetic brands completely stop animal testing in order to help keep their company alive.

Some of the animals used for cosmetic testing include animals known as pets such as, dogs, cats, hamsters, and rabbits. Other animals are monkeys, many types of birds, and rats. A lot of these animals have ended in death from toxic ingredients and certain bacterias. Although testing on animals is legal in most countries, ingredients and information such as this are open to the public. It is extremely important to do research in brands you purchase because you can be helping to abuse animals. Brands have to put out a statement saying they test on animals, that way their consumers know.

The reason I believe this topic of animal abuse does not get the attention it deserves it’s because there is a stigma around it. People don’t like to believe they are contributing to animal abuse by staying quiet. Think about how many times you walked past a house and saw a dog tied up outside, in the summer heat or pouring rain, that is abuse. Knowing how to help stop animal abuse can save a poor animal’s life. Getting educated to be able to identify any form of abuse is important, knowing who to contact is also important.

Staying quiet and not doing something when you know an animal is being abused or neglected is just as bad as being the one who is abusing. There is a lot of information online that can help anybody identify animal abuse and what steps do to to stop it. There is also a great variety of way to get involved, may companies take donations in order to help. Companies also help animals who have suffered through any of these harmful acts and begin their rehabilitation. Anybody can help prevent this from happening to any animal. In many states, people can face years and even life in prison if any of these crimes are committed. Any form of abuse to animals is illegal.

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