April is Stop Animal Cruelty month. What exactly is animal cruelty? Which animals suffer? What kind of people perpetrate it? How to report it? And a personal pledge to work to stop it. These will be the subjects of my April columns.
Most people seldom think about animal cruelty; seldom see instances of it. But a relative few agonize over it and work to stop it because they are in touch with it almost every day.
These are the workers and volunteers in shelters, rescue organizations, animal welfare, animal rights and animal law organizations. We are now united by the Internet and share our knowledge of animal cruelty (and many other animal issues).
There are so many ongoing instances of animal cruelty in our society and yet there are small and large actions that each of us can take in our daily lives that make a difference.
We can become vegetarians or vegans; we can buy only cosmetics, cleaning products etc. that are not tested on animals; we can donate to the animal organizations that are the front line in the fight; we can adopt only from shelters and rescue groups; we can report suspected cases of cruelty.
Here are several types of animal cruelty that exist and are tolerated in our society:
Puppy mills - lives of misery
Bludgeoning of baby seals for their pelts
Dog fighting, cock fighting
Horrendous farm practices - animals trapped in lifelong misery
Abandonment of dogs, cats, puppies, kittens, rabbits etc.
Slaughter house practices - terror and pain
Leg hold traps
Hunting of confined animals for sport; Internet hunting
Circus practices
Laboratory experimentation on animals
Shelters still using inhumane methods of killing
The treatment of downed animals
The inhumane treatment in the fur industry of fur bearing animals
Owners of pets who are unfit, neglectful, abusive including those who tie a dog outside for its lifetime
I have discovered that even people who care about animals can personally witness an instance of animal cruelty or neglect and do nothing about it, not even to make a quick phone call. Are they just in a hurry? Do they see reporting it as risky? Do they assume that someone else will do it? Or perhaps they don't know where and how to report it. Do they think it is the right of an owner to do anything to their “owned” animal?
I'm talking about seeing an emaciated horse standing without shelter in a field. Or someone smacking around a puppy. Or a confused and frightened dog or puppy on the road. Or an injured dog in the ditch. Or someone torturing a cat. Or a thin sad dog tied to something with a 3-foot rope.
It is an interesting and puzzling phenomenon that applies not only to witnessing animal abuse but also witnessing other types of crime.
“Dateline NBC” recently did a program on the subject of witnesses who turned away from an act of crime and did nothing.
NBC's Bill Stanton posed as a criminal who broke in to cars by smashing their windows. He did this in broad daylight where there were many passersby.
Only two of 15 reported what they saw to police. Stanton also broke into homes in a well-trafficked neighborhood and in plain sight with the same result. “Dateline's” conclusion: We are too focused on ourselves; we wear blinders when something we know is wrong is happening that we could do something about: we often take the tact that someone else will do something.
On the other hand every now and then we hear of a spectacular act of compassion even at considerable personal risk. On another TV news program recently there was a story about a firefighter who donned a waterproof suit and jumped into a frozen lake to save the life of a dog. Someone had called the fire department.
We must all be the eyes and ears of the authorities whose responsibility it is to investigate and stop instances of animal cruelty and neglect. In most cases, it is the local SPCA that has cruelty investigators that can legally go onto property to investigate and who can issue summonses and follow through. When a witness is unable to reach the SPCA he/she should call a law enforcement agency - city police, sheriff, state troopers. None of these agencies can do anything without our help.
Judy Vorreuter is the founder and director of Animal Advocates of the Finger Lakes
These are the workers and volunteers in shelters, rescue organizations, animal welfare, animal rights and animal law organizations. We are now united by the Internet and share our knowledge of animal cruelty (and many other animal issues).
There are so many ongoing instances of animal cruelty in our society and yet there are small and large actions that each of us can take in our daily lives that make a difference.
We can become vegetarians or vegans; we can buy only cosmetics, cleaning products etc. that are not tested on animals; we can donate to the animal organizations that are the front line in the fight; we can adopt only from shelters and rescue groups; we can report suspected cases of cruelty.
Here are several types of animal cruelty that exist and are tolerated in our society:
Puppy mills - lives of misery
Bludgeoning of baby seals for their pelts
Dog fighting, cock fighting
Horrendous farm practices - animals trapped in lifelong misery
Abandonment of dogs, cats, puppies, kittens, rabbits etc.
Slaughter house practices - terror and pain
Leg hold traps
Hunting of confined animals for sport; Internet hunting
Circus practices
Laboratory experimentation on animals
Shelters still using inhumane methods of killing
The treatment of downed animals
The inhumane treatment in the fur industry of fur bearing animals
Owners of pets who are unfit, neglectful, abusive including those who tie a dog outside for its lifetime
I have discovered that even people who care about animals can personally witness an instance of animal cruelty or neglect and do nothing about it, not even to make a quick phone call. Are they just in a hurry? Do they see reporting it as risky? Do they assume that someone else will do it? Or perhaps they don't know where and how to report it. Do they think it is the right of an owner to do anything to their “owned” animal?
I'm talking about seeing an emaciated horse standing without shelter in a field. Or someone smacking around a puppy. Or a confused and frightened dog or puppy on the road. Or an injured dog in the ditch. Or someone torturing a cat. Or a thin sad dog tied to something with a 3-foot rope.
It is an interesting and puzzling phenomenon that applies not only to witnessing animal abuse but also witnessing other types of crime.
“Dateline NBC” recently did a program on the subject of witnesses who turned away from an act of crime and did nothing.
NBC's Bill Stanton posed as a criminal who broke in to cars by smashing their windows. He did this in broad daylight where there were many passersby.
Only two of 15 reported what they saw to police. Stanton also broke into homes in a well-trafficked neighborhood and in plain sight with the same result. “Dateline's” conclusion: We are too focused on ourselves; we wear blinders when something we know is wrong is happening that we could do something about: we often take the tact that someone else will do something.
On the other hand every now and then we hear of a spectacular act of compassion even at considerable personal risk. On another TV news program recently there was a story about a firefighter who donned a waterproof suit and jumped into a frozen lake to save the life of a dog. Someone had called the fire department.
We must all be the eyes and ears of the authorities whose responsibility it is to investigate and stop instances of animal cruelty and neglect. In most cases, it is the local SPCA that has cruelty investigators that can legally go onto property to investigate and who can issue summonses and follow through. When a witness is unable to reach the SPCA he/she should call a law enforcement agency - city police, sheriff, state troopers. None of these agencies can do anything without our help.
Judy Vorreuter is the founder and director of Animal Advocates of the Finger Lakes
The Citizens' Say
There are 3 comment(s)
Caution! wrote on Apr 10, 2007 5:08 PM:
Jenessa M. wrote on Apr 3, 2007 1:41 PM:
Patricia Bewley wrote on Apr 1, 2007 9:32 AM: