Government Role in Animal Cruelty

With the amount of abuses occurring daily with animals, we can't always depend on people to take action immediately. So how do those who are presently active in fighting for animals get things done? The answer is with government help. All 50 states have some type of anti-cruelty laws, but only 41 states consider these acts as felonies as of the year 2005.

According to the article "Over view of sate cruelty laws," there are only two types of acts punished: Intentional acts, and failure to act.

When it comes to charging some one with failure to act (neglect), there are a couple of things that have to be done. First of all, the prosecutor has to determine if the animal really needed shelter, if the weather conditions were harsh enough to need shelter, and finally, if the shelter provided was suitable for the pet. If owner failed to provide any of these, consequences will be suffered. "Mandatory counseling or education, community service, restitution (in some cases paid to a local ASPCA), seizure of the animals, reimbursement for the cost of care, and limitations on future animal ownership" will be considered,writes Rebecca F. Wisch.

When dealing with intentional acts, punishments are most severe. If repeated, felonies will be charged under that law. For the states that do consider animal cruelty as a felony, a fine and jail time will be faced. Surprisingly, there are a few exceptions to to these laws. According to the table of state laws, institutions such as Zoos, circuses, pest control, and food production companies. Hunting and killing an animal in your own home is an humane way are also things that arent considered as animal cruelty.

To see the penalties your state charges click here: http://http://www.animallaw.info/articles/arus5animall69.htm





http://www.animallaw.info/articles/ovusstatecrueltylaws.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/07/03/animal.rights/

http://http://www.animalfreedom.org/englih/opinion/animalrights.html

Types of Animal Cruelty

With all the animal abuse taking place today, there are a countless amount of things that can be counted as animal abuse. According to the ASPCA ( The American Society for the Protection of Animals), there are two main types of animal abuse: Passive Cruelty and Active Cruelty.

Passive Cruelty consist of pure neglect of the animal. Although no physical abuse is involved, severe animal neglect can be very painful and even fatal to a pet. Lack of attention consist of starvation, dehydration due to lack of water, parasite infestations caused by unhealthy living conditions, poor shelter in harsh weather conditions, and lack of medical attention when needed.

The following graphs show the body condition of a pet who has not been fed due to neglect or being overfed fue to mistreatment. Being extremely skinny OR excesively obese are both unhealthy and dangerous for pets.

In many cases, passive cruelty is a cause of pure ignorance in the owners part. Therefore, it is crucial that you educate yourself in every way possible for the safety of your pet, and yourself.

Active Cruelty consist of harmful and abusive actions taken towards an animal. This intentional type of abuse is the most disturbing for the simple fact that it proves to show psychological problems in a person. According to the ASPCA,the most inhumane cases of animal abuse are caused by active cruelty.

Unlike in a case of passive cruelty, the investigator can determine if the damage was caused by pure ignorance or more and take action and removing the pet from the home, as to a case of active cruelty when you know exactly that the person causing the harm is doing it intentionally and gets a sense of pleasure and accomplishment from it.

Other acts of cruelty consist of hoarding(keeping a lot of animals in a certain area), poisoning and shooting.

It is tragic to see these types of incidents happening to innocent animals on a daily basis. But in order to make a difference, the community has to come together and let their voice be heard.





http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/animal_cruelty/neglect.php
http://www.pawsofaustin.org/stopabuse.html
http://www.johnsoncountyhumane.org/law.html

Animal Cruelty Violence Connection

There are many problems taking place in the world today. As people, we are faced with countless conflicts such as global warming, poverty, and war to name a few. However with our rights and voices we have to speak out for those who can't, like animals. None of these problems are as important as the atrocities animals are being faced with today. The number of cases involving violence to animals which resulted in prison sentences rose from 46 in 2001 to 57 in 2002, and keeps increasing every year. The same animals that we should be putting our all into protecting are being cruelly mistreated throughout the world, and without the luxury of voices of their own it is therefore our job to speak out for their rights and against the inhumane people that mistreat them.

With the multitude of animal cruelty crimes being committed, you truly begin to wonder the driving force behind these actions and the perpetrators that commit them. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to animals, "A kid who is abusive to a pet is quite often acting out violence directly experienced or witnessed at home." But in order to establish a link, you have to ask yourselves why people abuse at all, and in the end it all comes down to having a sense of control. If a person has experienced abuse at home, their parents are the ones in control. So, abusing an animal is a way for a human to get a sense of joy and power through the torture of an animal they know can't defend itself, just like they themselves couldn't do when they experienced abuse. Same reasoning applies to rapists and child abusers; they do what they do because whom ever they are hurting can't fight back.

Agent Allen Brantley, FBI Supervisory Special Agent, states "Animal cruelty...is not a harmless venting of emotion in a healthy individual; it is a warning sign..." In other words, these animal offenders have been damaged mentally to a certain extent that will eventually lead them to cause more severe and violent crimes towards humans. But what about those who don't have a childhood filled with abuse? Agent Brantley calls them "budding psychopaths." These people have no empathy at all at what they are doing and the pain they are causing to these innocent animals. Examples of people how have committed high profile crimes against humans and have had a history of animal cruelty are: Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, the "Boston Strangler," Albert DeSalvo, and Earl Kenneth Shriner, to name a few.

So, even with these high profile cases, animal cruelty is still taking place. Knowledge about the connection of animal cruelty and violence has to be taken seriously so that action can be taken towards these growing perpetrators. This way we will be helping to put an end to growing animal abuse and human violence.



http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/abuse_connection.php
http://www.pet-abuse.com/.../statistics/case_status.php
http://photosc.msspro.com/pic/animalrights.htm