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Animal Abuse In America

A Review of the Literature

Laura Stockl

Edina High School

Authors Note

This paper was prepared for Pre-AP English 10 taught by Mrs. Taylor, Hour 4
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Animal Abuse In America

A Review of the Literature

Introduction

In 2008, a white dog, Oogy, was adopted at 10 weeks, after being extremely abused at a

dog fighting facility. Oogy was tied to a piece of steak, which triggered a pit bull to aggressively

chase him, bite off his whole left ear and to crush the bottom of his jaw. The police found him

alone, bleeding to death in a cage, after being attacked by the other dog. This is no way for any

animal to be treated. Oogy barely survived. He was rushed to the hospital, and the doctors say it

was a miracle that he did not die after such a fatal attack. After many operations and a lot of

rehabilitation, Oogy finally started to gain back his strength. He stayed at the hospital until he

was completely better, and then was sent to a shelter. A loving family found Oogy at the shelter,

and adopted him right away. He was safe and loved by his family, which is the right way for a

dog to live (Levin, n.d. para 1). A huge problem that America is facing today is the excessive

amount of animal abuse. If nothing is done to stop this, animal abuse will increase over time,

and soon it will be affecting people in all communities. There are so many things that can be

done, and that should be done, to prevent the torture that animals like Oogy go through. There is

a correlation between abusers of family members leading to pet abuse; thus, registration acts and

organizations need to mandate pet owners to have a clear history from animal abuse to ensure

that every pet is safe.

Background and Evidence of Problem

Animal abuse
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Animal abuse is an extension to domestic violence, and is an increasing problem in our

society today. The problem of dog abuse usually starts with criminals with prior domestic

violence (Animal cruelty, n.d. Para. 3 & 4). Animal abuse is not only physically hurting an

animal, it is also neglecting the pet. Neglection of an animal can be just as cruel as abuse, like

forgetting to groom it, forgetting to change its collar, leaving it outside with no shelter or food, or

failing to take care of its basic needs. Those are many ways that you can tell whether a pet is

being neglected or not, and there are also many ways to see whether or not the pet is being

abused. When a pet is being abused or neglected, they must receive urgent care because the

abuse or neglect can be fatal. If you think that you are witnessing animal abuse, some obvious

forms of animal abuse are drowning, choking and kicking, putting rubber bands on limbs and

setting tails on fire (Animal cruelty and, 2014, page 1). It is very important to report abuse and

neglect because if there is harm against animals, there is a high chance that humans are being

harmed along with the animals.

Causes of abuse

Not only are animal abusers usually prior domestic abusers, but they also have external

and internal conflicts with themselves and others around them that lead to their abuse on animals.

Studies show that people who abuse dogs have both externalizing and internalizing symptoms

like having family members who abuse animals or people, or having negative views on others

and not caring about other people or animals. Some other likely animal abusers are alcoholics or

drug abusers, who have personal conflicts that affect their brain, leading them to abuse. Many

people who have an alcohol abuse problem participated in a survey about abuse towards people

or animals. They were asked whether they have ever bullied someone or if they had ever harmed
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an animal, and 1,968 people said that they have bullied people, and 475 have abused an animal.

This shows how variables like alcohol or drugs can affect how people treat animals like dogs.

(Effects of children, 2011, page 1). All of these internal and external conflicts greatly impact

how many animals get abused every year; animal abuse is an awful thing, and there are many

things to that can be done to help solve this problem so harm against the animals end, and stop it

from being a cycle into domestic violence.

Animal abuse in Minneapolis

Not only is animal abuse a nationwide problem, it is also a very prominent issue in

Minneapolis, where many of us overlook this matter. Centered in the Twin Cities, there are many

organizations that advocate this growing issue of animal abuse. Through these institutions,

people can help in various ways. Information about how to report an abused animal can very

easily be found under the websites of associations like Minnesota Humane Society. The Humane

Society also encourages volunteers to come in once a week to help ensure the safety of the

animals. As volunteers, people will keep the animals company, help bathe them and help

rehabilitate. Many people who have taken this opportunity, have found this expirience to be very

beneficial for not only the animals, but for their increase in knowledge. There are other easy and

impactful ways to contribute to this cause. Many different values of donations are accepted in

various organizations. The Humane Society also has a shelter where people who are looking to

adopt, can find a pet that has been abused and now is looking for a safe and loving home

(Minnesota humane, n.d. page 1). The issue is building up day by day, and these

organizations find a way to help slow down, and nearly stop this epidemic from growing. When
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animal abuse stops growing, so will the domestic violence that is inherently linked to the animal

abuser.

Current Action and Proposed Solutions

Current Action on Animal Abuse

There are many national and local organizations to help stop the ongoing cycle of animal

abuse. There are animal registration acts that enforce laws to help prevent more abuse. The

Animal Abuse Registration Act required every person who had abuse an animal in the past in

New York must be added to the animal abuse registry. This means that if you have abused an

animal/pet in the past, you are not allowed to buy, adopt, have custody of or intentionally engage

in physical contact with any animal. (Animal abuse, 2014, para 1&2). Not only are there laws

that help keep animals away from harm of the abusers, but there are also programs and

organizations that people can call in or volunteer for. These organizations help the animals that

have already been abused, and are in need of help. Animal rescue league of Boston has an

organization that informs the readers about dog abuse, a rescue hotline where you can call in to

report animal abuse, and a place to bring in an abused animal to get taken care of. There is a

program where anyone can volunteer and help the abused animals called Healthy moms, happy

litters. This program takes in abused dogs and other animals that have been abused, and treat

them with much care until they are better again ( Animal rescue, 2016, para 1). This

organization ensures that even though an animal may have been traumatically tortured in the

past, they can be mostly healed to have happy litters (para 3). It is easy to volunteer with these

healing moms, so that you can help them through their process of rehabilitation and through

finding the perfect family to adopt them. It is important to give as much care as possible to these
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abused mothers, so that they can create a better life for their litters. Organizations like the

Animal Rescue League in Boston help lead animals into a better life, with a new and loving

family. If someone cannot directly help animals in need, there are many donation organizations

that accept donations, in which they use to directly help those abused animals. In ASPCA, one

can either become a monthly donor, so they are constantly donating their money to the abused, or

one can give their donations at any time that is convenient for them. The amount paid for the

monthly donations is anything from $18 - $36.(Ways to, n.d. Page 1). If someone is unable to

give that much money for donations, there are other programs that accept any dollar amount to

help the animals in need. A small contribution can make a huge difference. As soon as we put an

end to animal abuse, there will be an end to the violence cycle, which will keep both humans and

animals safe from abuse.

Proposed Solutions

Even though there are many organizations and laws to keep animals safe from abuse,

there are still many things that can be done to prevent their torture. There is a great number of

organizations in the US, but they are all spread out within their own states. Having more

organizations in each state can make controlling the amount of animal abuse much easier,

because there are less people to control at once. It is important for people to help the dogs in

need, if they have the opportunity to, whether that's volunteering at a shelter or spreading

awareness. If every person that has the opportunity does something to help, there will soon be

closure with the issue of animal abuse, which will keep pets and other animals safe from harm.

Using gifts and talents to help animals in need is a great way to give health to harmed animals,

and help end the cycle of abusers who harm both family members or other people, and animals.
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Conclusion

The problem of animal abuse is very devastating and has yet to find the perfect solution.

Animals are being both physically and emotionally abused and neglected. Through volunteers at

shelters, organizations that help abused animals, and registry laws that help ensure all dogs and

pets will be safe, we will be seeing many positive changes occur. Animals should have the right

to be happy and to be safe, and with animal abuse, both of those things are taken away. If society

does not take action on this terrifying abuse, more and more animals will be in danger, or

brutally killed. Not only do we want our animals safe, they also bring happiness to the families in

all communities, and even protection to those families from harm. If we want our animals and

pets to be safe, we need to make a change and combat this epidemic, so that we ensure that

animals will be freed from harm.

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References

Animal abuse registry. (2014). Retrieved November 9, 2016, from NYC Health website:

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/animal-abuse-registry.page

Animal cruelty and neglect. (2014, July 4). Retrieved November 10, 2016, from City of Boston

website:

https://www.boston.gov/departments/animal-care-and-control/animal-cruelty-and-neglect

Animal cruelty. (n.d.). Retrieved November 8, 2016, from Domestic Violence

Council website:

http://www.azmag.gov/archive/dv/About_DV/Animal_Abuse/animal_abuse.html

Animal rescue league. (2016). Retrieved November 9, 2016, from

http://home.arlboston.org/

Cruelty to animals and the short- and long-term impact on victims. (2007). Retrieved November

9, 2016, from

https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=244316

Effects of childhood adversity on bullying and cruelty to animals in the united states: Findings

from a national sample. (2011, May 2). Retrieved November 9, 2016, from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3264679/

Levin, L. M. (n.d.). Oogy - the third twin. Retrieved from Animals abused and abandoned:
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http://www.animals-abused.org/oogy-story.htm

Minnesota humane society. (2016). Retrieved November 23, 2016, from

http://www.mnhumane.org/report.html

Ways to give. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2016, from

http://www.aspca.org/ways-to-give