Animal Cruelty
Animal cruelty is unnecessary pain inflicted upon an animal. It’s when an animal is tortured for entertainment, sport, clothing, and other unnecessary situations. There are many different forms of animal cruelty such as: hunting as a sport, testing, the trading of furs, elephant poaching, mistreatment in farms, dog fighting, the effect global warming has on polar bears and how we‘ve caused it, and club sealing. Some people might not think this is a very big problem in the world, but a helpless creature suffers everyday. Animals have been with us since the beginning of time and they have an important role in our environment and in our world. Luckily, there are organizations that help try to prevent animal cruelty in the world such as PETA and the Humane Society. Unfortunately, they can’t stop every horrible situation from happening but they still help prevent some.
One of the forms of cruelty towards animals is hunting as a sport. In some parts of the world, hunting is necessary to live. I believe that the killing of an animal for food is necessary. Proteins from meat and milk are important because they contain nine essential amino acids that our bodies need to function. An animal killing another animal for food has always been a regular cycle in life. It is cruel when an animal is killed for fun or decoration so that someone can hang their head over their fireplace or use them as a rug. There is no necessary need for that and no creature should have to suffer and lose their own life for something so pointless. An animal shouldn’t have to suffer to make a room look extravagant.
A big problem for elephants in Africa today is poaching. An international ban on ivory was made in 1989, but elephants are still being hunted down for their tusks. According to Samuel K Wasser, the director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington in Seattle, “Elephants are extremely important to ecosystems in Africa. They manipulate habitat; they keep savannahs, savannahs (Science News).” The death of an elephant can have a huge psychological effect on other elephants around it, especially female elephants. It has a very traumatic effect on them. The deaths of these elephants can have an effect on their broken up families for decades and it can take a long time for them to recover.
There have been new studies that document the toll of disruptions to the Elephant population. One of them was published in Conservation Biology and it focuses on the reproductive output and stress hormones of 200 and more female elephants in Mikumi National Park in Tanzania. Elephants seem to be very intelligent and sensitive creatures. Samuel K. Wasser says, “Elephants have a tremendous interest in and awareness of death (Science News).” Elephants spend a lot of time sniffing and passing non-elephant bones. The number of African elephants drastically changed from 1.3 million to fewer than 600, 000. Today, poaching is at its worst. Eight percent of elephants are being illegally killed for their ivory each year. Ivory is also becoming more expensive. These animals could be close to extinction by the year 2020.
A controversial issue is animal testing. Some believe that it is cruel and inhumane and that animals shouldn’t have to suffer for our wants and needs. Others believe that animal testing will further our progress in biomedical research and that it is a vital part in improving human health. They would rather an animal be tested on than a human being because there could be serious and dangerous side effects, although, there are people who willingly volunteer to be tested on instead. Some of the products tested on animals are unnecessary and selfish such as botox and cosmetics. They aren’t really necessary for the health of the human race. A helpless animal shouldn’t have to suffer because a person wants to “look better” for a day. Luckily, there are cosmetic companies who do not use products tested on animals such as Paul Mitchell, ALBA, DERMA E, Burt’s Bees, AVEOA, and ORIGINS. If they can do it, then other companies should try to also.
The way we treat our environment has a serious effect on other creatures around us. A hot topic in the news currently is global warming. Due to global warming, polar bears are close to becoming an endangered species because of the climate change. They depend on sea ice to hunt for seals. Without the sea ice they are in big trouble. They are poor swimmers and seals can easily get away from them in open water. They are dying because of the way we mistreat our environment.
Dog fighting has become a sick type of “entertainment” to some people. Dogs are trained to fight against other dogs while people amusingly watch and bet on it. This is a sick way to make money. According to Janice Krish, a worker at the Humane Society, dog fighting is a serious problem. Puppies are beaten so that when they grow up they will be mean enough to fight. Dogs are forced to maul at each other until one of them ends up dead. Dog fighting has become illegal everywhere in the United States, but people still do it in secrecy. Lawmakers have been trying to crack down on the people who organize these sickening events and also the people who watch and bet on them.
Two major organizations that try to prevent animal cruelty from happening as much as they can are PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and the Humane Society. PETA is known as the largest animal rights organization in the world. They focus mostly on factory farms, animals in entertainment, clothing trade, and laboratories. They work and spread their word through education, animal rescue, protest using celebrities, and campaigns. Some would say they go to extremes, because they believe that even owning a pet is wrong. The Humane Society is also a huge organization that works to prevent animal suffering. They investigate animal cruelty and work to enforce laws against it. They take in abandoned animals and try to find them safe homes.
These organizations try to as best as they can to prevent animal cruelty. When it does happen, they try their to enforce laws. Unfortunately, these organizations cannot stop every horrible event from happening. Even though laws are enforced, sick people still get away with animal cruelty crimes. To prevent cruelty even further, people should start animal neighborhood watches in their areas to help watch over animals and prevent any form of abuse from happening. People who care should contribute to organizations and younger children should be taught about respect and kindness towards animals and when it is wrong and unnecessary for an animal to be harmed. It is up to us to decide helpless creature’s fate and also the environment that greatly effects them. They cannot help themselves when faced with our technology and weapons. We have to at least try to improve these conditions to prevent any form of extinction of our animals and wildlife.
