Opening Eyes to Animal Cruelty

I started this blog last night and honestly didn't know what I was getting myself into.

I began researching animal cruelty and found a list of animal cruelty "glossary" on the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) website. Even as someone who feels fairly aware of animal issues, there were still types of abuse I wasn't familiar with - terms that represent shocking and awful actions toward animals.

The whole concept was too overwhelming and I couldn't wrap my head around it all enough to write a blog, so I gave myself a day to think about it all.

I read the headlines from the last couple weeks: "Kitten trapped in tied grocery bag, abandoned" ... "Groundhog staked to railroad tracks" ... "Police dogs die in hot car" ... "6-month-old dog repeatedly slashed in the face" ... "13 horses seized, 2 found with testicles tied to tails." (http://www.pet-abuse.com/).

There are so many kinds of animal abuse vividly present in our country: neglect, hoarding, mutilation, abandonment, throwing, stabbing, beating.

It's sickening, but just as troubling is the fact that our country doesn't take it very seriously.

Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota still do not recognize animal cruelty as a felony, but even in states that do, the punishment rarely fits the crime.

Two men tethered, starved, and severely neglected 26 pit bulls in Georgia. The men used the dogs for breeding and for fighting one another to the death. The owner and caretaker were sentenced to five years and one year in prison, respectively, with probation.

I originally read this case in the Spring 2011 edition of ASPCA Action. This story was under "successes," and in a lot of ways because the individuals were actually convicted, I suppose it is a success. Still, the sentences seem like nothing for that type of treatment.

The fact that animal cruelty is not treated like a true crime, is not only a hard thing for animal lovers to swallow ... it's flat out stupid.

Common sense would tell anyone that a person who would hurt an animal would also hurt a human - it's a way of having control, of making something powerless.

A New Jersey study found that 88 percent of families where there was violence against children, there was also violence against animals (http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/domestic-violence-and-animal-cruelty.aspx).

I didn't find a single study that diminished the connection between animal cruelty and other crimes.

One study found that animal abusers are five times more likely to commit violent crimes against people (SPCA and Norheastern University, 1997), and as far back as the 1970s, the FBI made the connection that most serial killers had killed or tortured animals as children.

These individuals need serious counseling, they need to be charged with these crimes, and they need aggressive repercussions. As a society, we need to make it clear that animal abuse is not acceptable.

I could continue on this topic - and it may at some point merit another blog posting - but what I truly want people to know is that whether you chose to open your eyes to it or not, animal cruelty is all over our country. It is happening every day.

And nothing will stop until we open our eyes and stand up against it.