I know we all have seen it; a dog tied up and looks like it hasn’t eaten in days or the cat running the streets looking for something to eat. I know we have all heard in the news Michael Vick going to jail for dog fighting but the question is, what kind of reaction do you have when you see or hear about it? You may not all be like me but I get the most horrible feeling in my stomach and I can’t bear it. I love animals and I can’t stand to see them abused. I ask myself, what can I do to help prevent and stop it?
The answer is a lot. There are so many organizations out there that help to prevent the abuse of animals. PETA for example they are People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and they do all of non profit work to stop animal abuse. They petition, protest, have public service announcements and give speeches at schools and other organizations. Just the other day I was watching TV and saw them “The Janice Dickenson Modeling Agency” protesting with her models that animal fur should not be used in fashion. PETA is a great organization and they do a lot to raise awareness of animal abuse but I think more could be done to prevent animal abuse.
Another show I like to watch on TV is “Animal Precinct” on Animal Planet. The show is all about the ASPCA, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The ASPCA and PETA are very similar in the other work that they do like petitioning and public service announcement but ASPCA does a lot more. The ASPCA has its own Humane Law Enforcement Department. Animal Cops. They actually charge and prosecute the people who abuse and neglect animals. They also have there own string of animal shelters for abandoned animals and strays. I think that the ASPCA does the best job at preventing animal cruelty because it not only punishes those who are cruel to animals but the fact that they have there own TV show about it helps to reach more people and raises awareness that animal cruelty is a real problem and wont be tolerated. Michael Vick should have watched this show he might have learned something!!
Animal abuse is not just a problem because it’s cruel to the animal but can be a real big problem for people. Several studies have found a significant relationship between cruelty to animals and violence toward people. The relationship is found more commonly in adolescent cruelty than adult cruelty but is still a problem no matter what the age. This is another big reason I believe in the ASPCA so much because they could also be helping to prevent violence towards humans. They can catch and convict someone for animal cruelty who may one day have violence towards people. The likely hood of this person being cruel to animal again goes down. The likely hood of it progressing to violence toward people also goes down significantly.
I feel it is important to prevent animal cruelty I think no ones does it better than the ASPCA.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Essay #1 Animal Cruelty
Animal rights and the treatment of animals is a long debatable topic. Everyone has pets and most everyone treats there pets as on of the family, but there are still a number of people who treat animals very bad. You can find that some animals are used for experiments. Some are used as game and hunted for sport. Some are skinned and have there fur used for various things. Some are even used for horrible games and gambling, I think we all know about our good friend Michael Vick and his much mistreated pit bulls. But not everyone agrees that it’s all bad the clothing companies think real fur is ok and hunters think is ok to hunt. So who is right?
There are many organizations out there fighting for better treatment of animals. Most people think first of PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. PETA take a more passive approach to animal rights by holding protests and informing people about the problem through public education, cruelty investigations and legislation. Other groups that take a more aggressive approach include the ASPCA, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which has is own Humane Law Enforcement Department. The HLE investigates cases of animal curtly and takes legal actions against those accused of cruelty. Both organizations along with many others believe that animals have rights; to not be eaten, to not be killed, and to not be used as entertainment in deadly games, but take different approaches.
These organizations not only have to fight for animal rights but they also have to fight to believe that animals have rights in the first place. There are many people that give the argument that if we give rights to animals then we have to give rights to plants, insects, fungus, and any other living thing and that would just be absurd. Others feel that they can do whatever they want with the property they own including there pets. Many others especially in the scientific community believe that animal research is vital to finding cures and that animal research helps them to learn more about animals them selves along with humans. Most are taking better precautions to insure the animals are still well care for but still believe that animal research is needed.
Animal cruelty is just the beginning of so many more problems. It has been proven that there is a link between animal cruelty in children and young adults and violence and other serious crimes as adults. “It has been suggested that animal cruelty may be exhibited by 25% of Conduct Disorder children and that animal abuse may be the earliest symptom evident in Conduct Disorder children. In addition, several studies have found a significant relationship between childhood cruelty to animals and violence toward people”. Animal cruelty can lead to much bigger problems. The animals rights are not the only thing at stake, American society and our children are too.
The debate over animal cruelty and animal rights will probably go on forever. Do animals have rights, is it ok to use animals in medical research, should people go to jail over the mistreatment of animal, is it ok to eat animals, if we give rights to animals where will they draw the line. Everyone has an opinion all that has to be decided is who has the right one.
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4437
http://www.hsus.org/animals_in_research/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VB8-439DVG0-4&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=339c54e1d68e3804e932206a792cfbb4
http://www.peta.org/
http://www.aspca.org/
There are many organizations out there fighting for better treatment of animals. Most people think first of PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. PETA take a more passive approach to animal rights by holding protests and informing people about the problem through public education, cruelty investigations and legislation. Other groups that take a more aggressive approach include the ASPCA, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which has is own Humane Law Enforcement Department. The HLE investigates cases of animal curtly and takes legal actions against those accused of cruelty. Both organizations along with many others believe that animals have rights; to not be eaten, to not be killed, and to not be used as entertainment in deadly games, but take different approaches.
These organizations not only have to fight for animal rights but they also have to fight to believe that animals have rights in the first place. There are many people that give the argument that if we give rights to animals then we have to give rights to plants, insects, fungus, and any other living thing and that would just be absurd. Others feel that they can do whatever they want with the property they own including there pets. Many others especially in the scientific community believe that animal research is vital to finding cures and that animal research helps them to learn more about animals them selves along with humans. Most are taking better precautions to insure the animals are still well care for but still believe that animal research is needed.
Animal cruelty is just the beginning of so many more problems. It has been proven that there is a link between animal cruelty in children and young adults and violence and other serious crimes as adults. “It has been suggested that animal cruelty may be exhibited by 25% of Conduct Disorder children and that animal abuse may be the earliest symptom evident in Conduct Disorder children. In addition, several studies have found a significant relationship between childhood cruelty to animals and violence toward people”. Animal cruelty can lead to much bigger problems. The animals rights are not the only thing at stake, American society and our children are too.
The debate over animal cruelty and animal rights will probably go on forever. Do animals have rights, is it ok to use animals in medical research, should people go to jail over the mistreatment of animal, is it ok to eat animals, if we give rights to animals where will they draw the line. Everyone has an opinion all that has to be decided is who has the right one.
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4437
http://www.hsus.org/animals_in_research/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VB8-439DVG0-4&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=339c54e1d68e3804e932206a792cfbb4
http://www.peta.org/
http://www.aspca.org/
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