Animal abuse Essay

Whether an animal did something to make you mad or upset, you are going through a rough time, or simply just because you want to, animal abuse is wrong in every way and our society should have more stringent laws against it. Many people take animals for granted and animal abuse is something people see and hear about all of the time, yet in today’s society people tend to turn a blind eye on it. Every animal deserves the right to live just as us humans do.

An animal is a living being that feels pain just like we do. A society that tolerates animal cruelty may as well tolerate cruelty against humans.

“Animals obviously cannot have a right of free speech or a right to vote because they lack the relevant capacities. But their right to life and to be free of exploitation is no less fundamental than the corresponding right of humans. ” (Franklin 1) Although animals cannot speak to us or give their opinions, they do have the right to have a life free of abuse just like humans do.

Some people believe that animals are not able to feel as much pain as a human could, therefore causing them to not feel as much guilt or shame over animal cruelty, when in reality, they feel pain just like we do.

They just don’t have the voice to show it. “…substantial scientific evidence demonstrates that most, if not all, vertebrates, including all mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish, as well as many invertebrates, such as cephalopods and crustaceans, feel pain. ” (Akhtar 7) Most people don’t tend to think that eating meat such as beef, pork, and chicken has anything to do with animal abuse, when in reality it does. In factory farms where they keep the animals before killing them, the animals have to live in a world full of abuse.

Pigs, for instance, are killed by getting slammed into the concrete ground head first or by being tossed into bins of poisonous gasses while slowly suffering to death if they are sick or do not grow fast enough. Animals in these factory farms suffer in various ways such as getting their throats slit or being cramped into tight spaces, causing them to suffer depression or insanity. People don’t realize that before that meat they are eating became food on their plate, it was an animal that once suffered abuse, not just calmly put to sleep.

If you are against animal abuse, but still eat meat with no guilt, all you are doing is paying someone else to do it for you. These animals don’t have any choice but to fall into these terrible living conditions the day they are born. As humans, doing things such as simply eating meat should not have to make us feel guilty. Our society needs more strict laws against all animal cruelty. For example, there should be more stringent laws on how animals get treated in factory farms before they become our food. The laws against animal abuse just overlooks what goes on in factory farms when really, they shouldn’t.

Seeing or knowing an animal is being abused should not be acceptable like it is in some cases today. Although anti-cruelty laws exist in all U. S. states and territories, often, only the most serious cases generate sufficient sympathy and evidence to warrant prosecution, and gaining convictions may be very difficult. (“Facts About Animal Abuse and Domestic Violence”) While usually domestic animal abuse, abuse to animals such as dogs or cats, is only looked into, all other animal abuse should be closely watched too, such as abuse to animals like turtles, iguanas, birds, and fish.

Most people wouldn’t get caught or go to jail for just abusing animals like that because most of the time it is just overlooked, when really they should be getting in the same amount of trouble as if it were a dog or a cat. Animal abuse should never be okay in any situation, therefore our society needs better laws protecting the animals in this world. If we don’t speak for these animals without a voice, then who will? Works Cited “Animal Abuse and Domestic Violence. ” Animal Abuse and Domestic Violence. N. p. , n. d. Web. 12 Oct. 2013.

. This website is about animal abuse and domestic violence toward animals. It explains the relationship between animal and interpersonal abuse, effects of animal abuse on victims of abuse, and laws governing animal abuse and domestic violence. “Facts About Animal Abuse & Domestic Violence. ” Facts About Animal Abuse & Domestic Violence. N. p. , n. d. Web. 12 Oct. 2013. . This website talks about the facts of animal abuse and domestic violence. They explain why it matters and they talk about the state animal cruelty laws. Akhtar, Aysha.

Animals and Public Health: Why Treating Animals Better Is Critical to Human Welfare. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. 7. Print. In this book, the author provides a cogent and balanced argument for the importance of accepting the intimate relationship between humans and other animals for our own health, that of other animals, and of the planet. Akhtar, Aysha. Animals and Public Health: Why Treating Animals Better Is Critical to Human Welfare. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. 7. Print. This book gives us a clear critique of what contemporary philosophers have to say about the moral rights of animals.

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