Animal Abuse And Cruelty
Animals and pets have made best friends and companions for years. Unfortunately they have been abused and neglected for just as long. Animal’s quality of life is very important and there is no way that that this cruelty towards them can be justified. Animal abuse cases make headlines around the world every other day. But it is an issue that is often neglected and isn’t paid much attention to by people. This essay argues about how animals are being ill-treated and abused around various corners of the world and how these speechless creatures can not even defend themselves but can simply cry for their lives.
Although animal abuse is not properly defined and may not be defined in the same way by different people but many people think that it refers to only the physical harm done to the animals. Rather it is much more than just physically hurting them or hitting them. Animal abuse includes harming any animal in any manner may it be killing them for their body parts or doing experimentations on them in laboratories or even neglecting and abandoning them for that matter. Many people defending animal abuse state that there is a food chain of nature where animals are eaten by humans and things should and have to work that way. Many animal experimentation supporters argue that animals do no endure pain and do not have any feelings at all.
Animal cruelty has been an ongoing issue in the society which many people are finding ways to tackle. There is news about some animal being beaten, starved or mistreated. But we can’t see the bigger picture of it. Animal cruelty is not only owners beating or starving their pet. There is much more to it. It is a more severe and critical issue than we think it is. Many companies test their products on monkeys, cats, dogs, mice, etc. Everyday thousands of experimentations are done on different kinds of animals from medicines to cosmetic items, everything is tested on animals before it is launched. Some experiments lead to a negative impact on those poor animals. And those innocent creatures have absolutely no idea of why all this is happening to them.
Scientific research is important for the growth of the economy, until something has to suffer. those animals are severely traumatized by what has happened to them. Some animals have rashes, some face burns, some have hair loss and some have an allergy. Still there are some companies that do not test their products on animals and still have many popular products that have a very high sales. For example many lip balms, creams, etc. also, nowadays because of the increasing awareness of animal cruelty many people like to go for companies and products that are not tested on animals and are cruelty free. This shows that products can be sold without being tested on animals.
Animals have been a major part of being served as food, making clothing out of their fur or skin or being workforce for the humans. Not only this but many animals have been used for traditional customs and religious sacrifices. Goats are sacrificed in large numbers every year on the famous festival ‘Bakra-Eid’ also known as ‘Eid Al-Adha’ or ‘Eid Qurban’. There are still many arguments made by people who are in favor of these animal sacrifices, experiments on them in laboratories and eating them as food. Some say that it is their culture to make animal sacrifices and present it to god and that they are doing it to make god happy. but why would god be happy by someone killing a creature that he made. Others say that experiments should happen on animals before products are given to humans for use to prevent allergies or other diseases in humans.
Again, why should another innocent creature suffer or die so that you are able to use good cosmetics or wear good clothes made out of their fur. Some people even beat their pets or other animals and give it the name of ‘fun’. Animals too have the right to live freely and not be used as entertainment. Yet there are so many animals around the world that are being used as entertainment in circuses. They are tied with ropes, kept in cages and are made to live in very harsh conditions without being cared for their health. They are forced to perform silly tricks again and again in front of people and if they do not do so they are beaten very badly. The people who go to watch these shows are totally unaware of the conditions these animals are put in and how brutally they are treated. Not only in circuses but there and many animals that are put in cages in zoos so that people can watch them. Animals should be roaming freely in the wild and should not be kept in cages anywhere for people’s entertainment.
Recently there has been a major case in Columbia where a women was accused to have kept 310 dogs in an awful and miserable state at a Maryland puppy mill. According to the police she has been keeping those 310 dogs in a same place for years and did not feed them properly and used to hit them. She has been sentenced 1 year in jail after found guilty. The dogs rescued were given proper medical care and are now up for adoption. A similar case happened in New York in August 2019 where a 35 year old man named Donald Birch hit his neighbour’s cat by mistake and instead of taking the cat to the hospital he hit the injured cat further in the fear that he will get arrested for the accident later. He tried to hit the cat with an iron rod on its head so that it dies and he can dump it somewhere and get rid of the situation by dumping the dead body of the cat somewhere and calling it a kidnapping case. This however got captured in the neighbour’s CCTV camera and he was then sentenced jail for a year and a half. Over 16 million people pay for hunting licensing each year and many other people hunt illegally. They are killed excessively with or without a cause. If people continue hunting at this rate soon there will be a time where most of the animals in this world will be endangered or extinct.
Conclusion
Everything in this world has a definite purpose. So there are many laws made to protect the right of animals. For example, there are many organizations such as The American society for the prevention of animal cruelty (ASPCA), Cat welfare society (CWS), etc that are fighting everyday to make this world a better place for animals. Organizations like these help and inspire the people to stop animal abuse through ways such as campaigning or through the internet, etc. they educate the public to actively promote animal protection. Organizations like these help with the current living conditions of animals and make sure animals are treated equally and receive lots of love and compassion. Being vegan or vegetarian is another way that will contribute to stopping animal cruelty. Being vegetarian means that one stops eating meat whereas being vegan means that one stops eating meat and any product that come from the animal world. For example milk, cheese, etc. We should not only do it ourselves but also encourage others to do it. Spreading awareness about it is the most important part of stopping this abuse. We can hold campaigns to help people know more about this. Informing people through social media and keeping them updated with how animals are being treated can also be done to give them more knowledge. Protests and meetings can be done to take people’s attention towards it. Make posters so that more people come for the meetings. We should also report if we see anybody misbehaving with other animals or people abusing animals physically or mentally. Incidents like these can be reported to the police or to PETA, an organization which protects animals from abuse and gives shelter and medical treatment to the abused ones. PETA also has many social media handles through which it promotes knowledge and encourage more people to join in to fight an stand against animal cruelty.
Works Cited:
“Animal experimentation and human medicine”, people for reason in science and medicine (PRISM), October 2004, web
Animal experimentation (vivisection)”, people for the ethical treatment of animals (PETA) , 2004, web
Bender, D. and Leone, B. (1989), animals rights: opposing viewpoints, San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc.
Bartleyby.com : Animal abuse research papers
