Animals have been seen as a lower species for decades. They have little to no rights and are sometimes treated inhumanely. No rights are given to them, so when they are abused there is little to no consequences. Hit an animal, make them live in dirty environments, forgot to feed them, leave them in the hot temperatures with no water, or torture them and the consequences are minor compared to the cruelty forced on that animal.
Animals should have certain rights so that abusers can have harsher consequences which in turn could help with future crimes, but doesn’t mean that they can’t be raised to feed our society or be used for other services. For centuries animals have been used by society to perform different duties. They are food for our families, they help the disabled, used for transportation, and other jobs. Yet if asked some still believe that they are just animals and were put on this earth to service people, not be equals nor have rights.
For years animal activists have been trying to get society to see animals more clearly for what they are, living breathing beings. Some people believe that animal rights activists care more about animals than they do about other people, which isn’t entirely true. Some of the more extreme activists do but most activists have expanded their circle of compassion so that it includes both humans and non-humans. Most just believe that animals deserve to live humanely and with dignity, to be able to live without being abused and other cruelties visited upon them.
The way some animals are treated can be incredibly brutal and despite the fact that they are not humans they are still living beings and should be treated with some amount of respect. Some people believe that the view that humans and animals are equal is a flawed assumption, as human beings possess special qualities that animals don’t. But animals are like foreigners, we may not understand what they are saying or how they live but that doesn’t mean they don’t have some similarities to humans. Animals have families that we call different names, others protect their young, parents or elders help to feed their families and they mourn their dead, it may not be the way we do but they do it too. They speak a different language than us, their life styles may not match ours and their families have different dynamic than mankind, but does that make them any less valuable than man. Other countries have already realized that animals are different than us but still deserve some rights. They see animals as more than just objects they can manipulate. They notice what the animals bring to society and how they improve the life of people.
According to Adam Cohen’s article Can Animal Rights Go Too Far (2010) “ Switzerland has a 160 page animal rights law with some of the world’s stiffest rules for the treatment of nonhumans, including the minimum amount of space that a Mongolian gerbils must be given and a ban on keeping social animals alone. ” This may seem extreme, but they are making a stand on animal rights, they are showing the world that animals may be different than us but doesn’t mean they should be treated as dirt beneath our feet.
Looking at the world news today people can find stories on dog fighting rings, animal hoarding, animal abuse, as well as, murder and rape. It doesn’t seem like anyone can turn on the TV or open a paper without some sort of story on a violent crimes either associated with animals or not. It gets people to think if there is a connection between the two. Researchers have been looking to see if there is a correlation between animal abuse and violent crimes. According to the American Humane Association (2009) “ In one study, 70% of animal abusers also had records for other crimes.
Domestic violence victims whose animals were abused saw the animal cruelty as one more violent episode in a long history of indiscriminate violence aimed at them and their vulnerability. ” This is something most people don’t really think about. Animals can be tortured by children who later in life could commit a more serious crime, such as murder, domestic violence, or a number of other violent crimes. The abuser sees the animal as a lower vulnerable being that they can control and use how they want. They don’t see them as a species that deserves to be protected and treated humanely, they are peoples little play toys.
Animal cruelty problems are people problems, when animals are abused people can be at risk as well. Animal abusers are more likely to commit violent crimes and property damage than people without a history of animal abuse. Pet-Abuse. com broke it down to bare essentials: ” Abusing an animal is a way for a human to find power/joy/fulfillment through the torture of a victim they know cannot defend itself. Now break down a human crime, say rape. If we substitute a few pronouns, it’s the SAME THING. Rape is a way for a human to find power/joy/fulfillment through the torture of a victim they know cannot defend themselves.
Now try it with, say, domestic abuse such as child abuse or spousal abuse: Child is a way for a human to find power/joy/fulfillment through the torture of a victim they know cannot defend themselves. ” It is all about one thing, control. They want to be the boss to make themselves feel important, better than they really are. Since most if not all serious offenders have a history of animal abuser in the past then all animal abuse cases should be taken very seriously. Just to give some history on animal abuse and violent crime offenders here is a list of some people that have done both, which was found on Pet-Abuse. om: *
Patrick Sherrill, who killed 14 coworkers at a post office and then shot himself, had a history of stealing local pets and allowing his own dog to attack and mutilate them. * Earl Kenneth Shriner, who raped, stabbed, and mutilated a 7-year-old boy, had been widely known in his neighborhood as the man who put firecrackers in dogs rectums and strung up cats. * Brenda Spencer, who opened fire at a San Diego school, killing two children and injuring nine others, had repeatedly abused cats and dogs, often by setting their tails on fire. Albert DeSalvo, the ” Boston Strangler” who killed 13 women, trapped dogs and cats in orange crates and shot arrows through the boxes in his youth. * Carroll Edward Cole, executed for five of the 35 murders of which he was accused, said his first act of violence as a child was to strangle a puppy. * In 1987, three Missouri high school students were charged with the beating death of a classmate. They had histories of repeated acts of animal mutilation starting several years earlier. One confessed that he had killed so many cats head lost count.
Two brothers who murdered their parents had previously told classmates that they had decapitated a cat. * Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer had impaled dog’s heads, frogs, and cats on sticks. * High school killers such as 15-year-old Kip Kinkel in Springfield, Ore. , and Luke Woodham, 16, in Pearl, Miss. , tortured animals before embarking on shooting sprees. * Columbine High School students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who shot and killed 12 classmates before turning their guns on themselves, bragged about mutilating animals to their friends.
If animal abusers have harsher consequences would it change what they do later in life? In the U. S today most states laws have animal abuse as a misdemeanor not a felony. The consequences differ from state to state but most consists of a fine around $1000 and counseling. Whereas if a person is assaulted the abuser gets a large fine and up 90 days in jail depending on the seriousness of the assault. There is now a Prosecutor’s Guide to animal cruelty that was written by Dr. Randall Lockwood, who has written several books addressing the connection between animal cruelty and interpersonal violence.
The guide helps prosecutors to understand animal cruelty laws and why animal cruelty cases should be prosecuted. This guide helps to give insight to the laws associated with animal cruelty, the types of animal cruelty and sentencing guidelines for the different types of animal cruelty. If a guide can be created to help prosecute animal cruelty cases than why can’t the sentences be harsher, right now it just seems most states just give the abuser a slap on the wrist to say don’t do that. Society needs to realize that giving animals the most simplest of rights doesn’t mean that the services they provide us can’t still be used.
Treating them humanely and with dignity shows animals that we respect their sacrifice that they make to feed our families and realize that they aren’t a lower species to be used and abused. The abuse should be considered a bigger issue than it currently is and should be punished as such. People need to be education on animal abuse, how to recognize it, how to report it, and how to take action. Taking care of animals and caring what happens to them helps people to realize that they aren’t just a thing or lower species but a living being with feelings.
In Omnivore’s Dilemma Pollan writes “ If possessing a higher degree of intelligence does not entitle one human to use another for his or her own ends, how can it entitle humans to exploit non-humans for the same purpose?
