Many animals are being abused every day and never get the chance to have a happy life. Many of the animals that are abused are household pets, mainly dogs and cats. C. Stevens stated, “The basis of all animal rights should be the Golden Rule: we should treat them as we would wish them to treat us, were any other species in our dominant position.” Education on how to properly treat or care for an animal is very important, because animal abuse could be avoided. Consequences of animals’ abuse could also prevent it from happening.

Animal abuse is identified every day through television and social media of pictures of the animals being beaten and even starved. Animals are dying every day in the hands of the person that is supposed to love and care for them. Much of the abuse can be avoided if they learn the proper ways to raise an animal. “Animal cruelty can be either deliberate abuse or simply the failure to take care of an animal”.

When animals are abused, it changes their mindset. Most of the animals become aggressive because they can’t trust a human and because they were hurt by one they think another human will hurt them again. Most animals can’t be saved, sometimes they become too aggressive so they have to be euthanized.

Most pet owners may not even know that they are abusing their animal. There should be training provided inadequate diet to the pet. I believe that if a person decides they want a pet, they should have to educate themselves on proper caring. Having a pet, the person needs to realize that it is a commitment and takes a lot of time to manage a pet. Most believe when they get a pet, they can just do what they please to them.

Another caring technique is the people need to be aware of the proper discipline for a pet. Some people don’t realize how to even properly discipline. Beating the pet with a stick, kicking it, or not feeding it will not change anything but make that pet either aggressive or scared. Pets start to not listen to the owner or even run off because they hurt them. Sometimes because of that situation, the abuse becomes more violent.

A second type of animal abuse is neglecting the pet, leaving it behind on the side of road. They didn’t ask for that when the owner brought it home. Because of owners dropping their pets off, there are more animals roaming the streets. That usually ends up in the animal being picked up and majority of the time being euthanized because there are so many animals already in the shelter. “Approximately 6.5 million companion animals enter U.S. animal shelters nationwide every year.”

People will get a pet and over breed it just to make money. That pet is usually left in a small pen or cage everyday of its life. The animal never gets to just run around like they are supposed to. It’s not a crime to breed an animal but if they are locked up in a tiny space then its abuse. An animal that is being bred needs to have room to run around and be treated with kindness.

Animal abuse is being reported every day, but the owners or abusers always get away with it. “The shocking number of animal cruelty cases reported every day is just the tip of the iceberg; most cases are never reported. Unlike violent crimes against people, cases of animal abuse are not compiled by state or federal agencies, making it difficult to calculate just how common they are.” Most people that are abusing the animals end up getting another pet and treating it the same way. There should be a way for that to stop. The person abusing the animal should be allowed to own another animal again. There should be a system that keeps track of abusers so they can’t own another animal. Just like there is a system to keep pedophiles or children abusers away from children.

“We as humans take advantage and power over animals, who are helpless, they have feelings too.” Not only stopping abusive pet owners from having future pets, but having animal welfare to protect the animal would also help prevent animal abuse. Many people are against protecting animals from abuse especially the idea of animal welfare. Animal welfare protects the animal from being abused in any way. Many people think that animals don’t feel pain and they lack the ability to feel emotions the same way humans do. Another opposed view is people serving jail time or getting a felony for animal abuse. They believe that won’t do any good, and stop the animal abuse.

There are many ways to prevent animal abuse from happening but many don’t care. If people start serving time or being stopped from having animals, there would be less deaths and abandoned pets. Animal shelters would not be so full and not have to euthanize a pet just because there is no room for it. “Animal abuse has been going on for way too long, it’s about time we make a change in our world and take a step into saving and protecting our loved animals.” Many countries such as Canada are already using jail time as a punishment for individuals who are abusing animals.