Kaitlyn Nevarez
English 111, Christine Peterson
Editorial
Animal cruelty has been a really big issue lately that the United States needs to do
something about it. According to the The Humane Society of the United States, “The shocking
number of animal cruelty cases reported every day is just the tip of the iceberg—most cases are
never reported,” (HSUS, n.p.). There has to be a new rule in for those who are caught, so people
would be scared to abuse innocent animals.
There are many types of animal cruelty and it can really change an animal’s way of
looking at life and us humans. The main types are fighting, hoarding, and beating. Many cases
haven’t been reported because “many people who witness or hear about cruelty are not aware
that legal action can be taken to help stop the problem,” according to Pet Finder, (PF, n.p.). Out
there in the world there are many people abusing animals by making them fight such as the
common cat fight and dog fight and even chicken fight. During those fights there is always the
weakling against the biggest and the people hosting this fight usually wait till one dies. Do you
want your puppy or little” baby,” next in that fight? When it comes to hoarding animals until that
person has no more space to where it gets so crowded. Those who hoard are those who “ have
numerous animals and may not know the total number of animals in their care,” and these people
“insists that all of their animals are happy and healthy—even when there are clear signs of
distress and illness,” according to The ASPCA, (ASPCA, n.p.). Many beat up their own pets
because of their need for power, therefore “someone who is violent towards animals may be
violent towards family members or others,” (PF, n.p.). There has to be a stop to this once and for
all.
Through states there are many different laws in for animal cruelty offenders. Which is
why many cases are not reported due to the lack of knowledge of their own states about the laws
of animal cruelty. The Humane Society of the United States is really determined to catch and put
Kaitlyn Nevarez
English 111, Christine Peterson
Editorial
those away so they don’t harm again. Like in the Humane Society said “ Some state laws only
allow felony charges if the perpetrator has a previous animal cruelty conviction. Given that only
a fraction of animal cruelty acts are ever reported or successfully prosecuted,” (HSUS, n.p.).
“A majority of anti-cruelty laws are limited to cases involving aggravated cruelty, torture or
cruelty to companion animals, (HSUS, n.p.). This hasn’t been effective enough because many
people do know they can walk away from their bad doings. And another thing that doesn’t help
either is “many individuals are arrested for intentional cruelty, people who commit even the most
heinous crimes against animals are often not prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” (PF, n.p.).
As a country we need to step up the game to end this abuse against animals who don’t deserve it.
There needs to be a plan that needs to be in place, here is one. The United States needs to
