The Pervasiveness of Animal Cruelty

The abuse and exploitation of non-human animals is pervasive throughout our society. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, over 9 billion are butchered for human consumption every year, roughly 20 million suffer in laboratories, and another 5 million are killed for their fur in the United States alone. At what price are we willing to indulge in our own unnecessary pleasures for the torture and deaths of millions of animals? 

Animals like people have feeling. They feel pain, sorrow, and joy. Just cause animals can’t tell us what they feel, doesn’t mean they don’t. Imagine if you are put in a cage and having make-up and products tested on you. Animal cruelty is unjust and unfair. There needs to be stronger punishments for animal abuse. Currently, every state in the United States has a law prohibiting cruelty to animals. These laws only give animals some legal protection. The purpose of creating these laws is to deter violence by humans as well as to protect animals from mistreatment and cruelty by imposing penalties for those acts. Currently in California, the maximum sentence for animal cruelty is imprisonment up to one year and fine up to only $20,000. 

Think about this for one second. Someone can torture a stray dog found on the street or intentionally neglecting an animal’s needs and the person will only be imprisoned for one year? In other states such as Colorado, the maximum fine is only $5000 dollars with up to 18 months of imprisonment where 90 days are mandatory. The punishments right now regarding animal cruelty are absolutely laughable. Let’s take the case of the disgraced NFL player Michael Vick and his obsession with dog fighting. Vick was sentenced in 2009 to a 23-month sentence at a federal penitentiary for participating in a dog fighting operation and participating in the killings of several underperforming dogs. However, Michael Vick was permitted to get out of jail and is allowed to finish his sentence under home confinement. Quote from the huffingtonpost, “Vick will be on electronic monitoring and will be allowed to leave home for activities approved by his probation officer”. First of all, home confinement is not jail. Jail is where you are confined in a small room for most of the day and one is to think about the actions that have got him there. Let’s be honest, house arrest is a far less harsh of a punishment than spending time in jail. The atmosphere is different. There is a sense that when a criminal goes to jail, they are supposed to suffer in jail. I have reason to doubt Michael Vick would have felt as much regret while sitting in his Hampton home compared to him being in jail. 

         The definition of animal cruelty is the infliction of suffering or harm upon animals for purposes other than self-defense. This includes depriving one of necessary sustenance (intentionally or unintentionally);  unecessarily mutilating or killing an animal; or confining an animal without affording it access to shelter from wind, rain, snow, or excessive sunlight. However, confining animals that are prior to slaughter without giving it access to shelter is legal. I repeat legal. Why is it that animals that are about to be slaughtered can be neglected and be abused? Do animals feel no pain when they are confined in the slaughterhouses? Of course animals feel pain and fear.

Now if these offences were to happen on a human being, there would be severe consequences. Child abuse by negligent parents would result in jail time that is much longer than 23 months guaranteed. An example of child abuse is seen from a mother of eight who was found guilty of child neglect and has been sentenced for six years with a non-parole period of three years and three-months. As of 2011, there is a new law in California that allows life sentence for child abuse where major injury is a result of the abuse. This bill was proposed in response to a 2004 shaken baby case involving a one-year old boy who suffered permanent brain damage and paralysis on his right side. His abuser only received a 10 year prison sentence. However this new law, effective as of 2011, will ensure abusers can receive life sentences for abuse that causes major injury. As anyone can see, the punishments for abuse to human beings are much more severe than the punishments for abuse to animals.

The government needs to enforce stricter legislations that have stiffer penalties. Law enforcement needs to enforce the abuse laws regarding animals much more strictly than they currently are because violators need to be held accountable for their actions. Animals feel pain, they suffer, and need to feel love just like we humans. Negligent owners need to face persecution for their irresponsible actions. The punishments right now serve no purpose. The consequences for offenders are impotent and therefore no reason for them to feel the need to stop. More intimidating consequences need to be implemented and enforced. This will help diminish the cases of animal abuse. There is a quote stated by Gandhi, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”. Don’t hide from the truth, until laws and consequences become stricter, animal abuse will continue. 

     

Bibliography:

1.      Animal Cruelty Law & Legal Definition. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2011.

            <http://definitions.uslegal.com/a/animal-cruelty/>.

2.      Sanders, Jim. New Law allows the life sentence for child abuse causing major injury. N.p., 27

3.      Sept. 2010. Web. 2 Mar. 2011. <http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2010/09/new-    law-allows-life-sentence-f.html>.

4.      Convicted Dog-Killer Gets 49 Years. N.p., 31 Aug. 2001. Web. 1 Mar. 2011.

            <http://www.dogsinthenews.com/issues/0108/articles/010831b.htm>.

5.      Mother jailed for beating, starving kids. N.p., 4 Oct. 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2011.

            <http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/01/3027558.htm>.