Abuse on Animals

Society has demonstrated in a number of different ways how mistreat an animal. It is a growing problem in the world today. It can be hard to identify that an animal is being abused but that’s no excuse for the problem to keep getting bigger. Animal Abuse appears to be more common in dysfunctional homes where people are uneducated in the area of caring for animals properly.

Dysfunctional homes are the main cause of animal abuse. The kids learn from their parents and if they see that their parents are abusing their pets as well as other family members then the kids learn that. They believe that is the way you treat another living thing which isn’t right. In the article, “Animal Abuse, Family Violence, and Child Wellbeing: Review,” the author, Samara McPhedran, states “Consequently, in families where any given form of family violence exists, animal abuse may also be more likely to exist.” When kids see abuse happening within the household, they’ll take that into their family when they grow up because that’s what they learned. It’s like a never ending cycle of animal abuse living in each generation. There are a couple things in the world that just convey this problem.

Vet’s today are supposed to love all animals. That’s why most of them choose the profession. Animals are their world and they always make sure they are being taken care of properly by the owner. Animal abuse should be a big thing to report if they suspect it but that doesn’t happen as often as people would think. There are vets that just don’t report it and continue to let it happen because they’re scared to say something. Georgina Mills states in the article, “Reporting Cases of Animal Abuse,” that a study done by “psychologists at the University of Kent, found that almost a third of the vets asked had suspected at least one incident of animal abuse in the past year, but only half of those had reported cases to the authorities.” Little things like these cause animal abuse just because it keeps the problem going since it’s not being reported.

Animal abuse can not only be found in dysfunctional homes but also within public events involving animals. For example, the circus is a big event that involves animal abuse. The trainers want them to perform certain acts but when they don’t do this they hurt them in some way. Deborah Nelson states in her article, “The Cruelest Show on Earth,” Despite years of denying it, Kenneth Feld has now admitted under oath that his trainers routinely ‘correct’ elephants by hitting them with bullhooks, whipping them, and on occasion using electric prods. He even admitted to witnessing it.” Kenneth Feld is the CEO of Feld entertainment who has operated the Ringling Brothers. The trainers are being educated incorrectly on how to treat the animals. The trainers must have abused an animal in some type of way before for them to have the heart to do this to the circus animals.

Another public event that is haunted by the presence of animal abuse is horse racing. Also done by the trainers as well. It was made known about the abuse of the horses in 2012 when an article was published by the New York Times. Bryan Denham, states in his article, “Intermedia Attribute Agenda Setting in the New York Times: The Case of Animal Abuse in U.S. Horse Racing,” that “On average, the Times reported , 24 horses die each week on U.S. race tracks; some break down during competition, while others sustain fatal injuries in practice sessions.” This is mainly because the horses are abused and very overworked from practicing. The abuse the trainers are committing on these animals can again originate from being uneducated in how to properly take care of an animal.

The origination of these trainers abusing an animal again cates back to learning that when they were younger. They most likely have grown up in a dysfunctional home where family abuse and animal abuse were both present. McPhedran also stated in her article, “Animal Abuse, Family Violence, and Child Wellbeing: A Review,” that “In a Utah shelter study, 22 women had children, and 32% (or 7 women) reported that one or more of their children had abused or killed companion animals.” She also states before that children of women in shelters are 20 times more likely to have witnessed animal abuse. The children see it and learn from that. It continues to haunt them throughout their life because they have no idea it’s a bad thing. That’s just what they were taught. The family dysfunctionality is causing these kids to grow up and become abusers.

The conflict of animal abuse has loomed over the world for quite a while. There are a lot of different causes to the different kinds of animal abuse. The abuse within horse racing as well as the circus is because the trainers are not taught to treat the animals with care. They just care about keeping the animals alive and the animals doing what they’re told to do and when they don’t do that they get hurt. Even when the horses are actually racing they’re whipped constantly to get them to go faster. Just little things like that can cause the animal to be in pain constantly. The trainers are taught when they are hired how to treat these show animals as well as learning from their childhood how to treat an animal the incorrect way. All this abuse goes back to the dysfunctional home. Parents fight all the time causing violence on the family members as well as the pets. The children seeing this causes them to be uneducated on how to properly care for an animal and it continues throughout their life until someone tells them that’s not right and demonstrates the correct way to them. This is a growing problem in society today and it’s like a never ending cycle because the abuse gets past on to each generation.