Animal Cruelty & Neglect – What You Need to Know
You have probably heard about animal cruelty and how horrible it may be. There is so much more that can be explained, which is the purpose of our article today. Animal cruelty includes a range of behaviors that are harmful to animals, from neglect to malicious killing. Most cruelty investigated by humane officers is unintentional neglect. The good thing about this is that most of these cases can be resolved through education. However, intentional cruelty is knowingly depriving an animal of food, water, shelter, socialization, mutilating, or killing an animal.
Animal cruelty is a huge concern because it is wrong to inflict suffering on any living creature. Intentional cruelty happens to be a sign of psychological distress and often indicates that an individual either has already been a victim of violence or might be inclined to committing acts of violence. You may be wondering why anyone would be cruel to animals. There may be many reasons. Animal cruelty, like any other form of violence is often committed by a person who feels like they lack power. Unfortunately, some who are cruel to animals copy acts they have seen or have been done to them.
Animal cruelty causes the animal a lot of suffering. The pain of an animal who lingers with untreated illness or wounds, or without nourishment or shelter, can be tremendous. Let’s use animals who starve to death as an example. They experience a myriad of painful symptoms throughout each stay of their physical deterioration. It starts with an initial loss of body fat and eventually it turns into organ failure.
Because there is no national reporting requirement for animal abuse, there is no way to track the number of animal cruelty cases that are filed or make it to court each year. A lot of people do not realize that the idea of creating animal abuser registries (much like registries for sex offenders) has been advocated for a long time. What can you do to help fight animal cruelty? You must be aware of the signs of animal cruelty and know how to report it.
Do not be afraid to make a report to your local animal control agency. If your city or town does not have a local animal control, you can make a report to the sheriff or other law enforcement agency. In most cases, the education and monitoring of the neglect situation is best left to your community’s law enforcement professionals. Be on the lookout for animal abuse. You may save a life one day!
