Animal Abuse Should Be Illegal

The debate over animal abusers’ punishment is an occurring problem in the U.S. today. Ordinarily it is rarely talked about because no one wants to deal with the fact that there is a problem. For centuries, some animals have been abused by means of: fighting, neglect and abandonment, shooting, burning by fireworks or fire, torture, and bestiality. In the year 2006, a study was shown to classify the percentages for that year based upon the type of animal abuse. Out of the 8661 animal abuse cases in that year (2006) their percentages were: 7.6%(fighting), 30.1% (neglect and abandonment), 11.7% (shooting), 2.4% (burning), 6.5% (torture), and 1.1% (bestiality). ("Animal Abuse Cases, by Type of Abuse, 2006." Animal Rights. Ed. Kim Masters Evans. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Print.) Animal abuse should be illegal because Scientific research is harmful towards the animals, it is inhumane, and abuse is abuse no matter who it is happening towards. People who mistreat animals, either it be by starvation or abuse, should be sentenced to jail.

During Scientific experiments/research on animals the government has this act, “The Animal Welfare Act” that tells the people that the animals being tested aren’t being harmed, but it says that, “no experiment, no matter how painful or trivial, is prohibited—and painkillers are not even required. Even when alternatives to the use of animals are available, the law does not require that they be used—and often they aren 't. Because the Act specifically excludes rats, mice, birds and cold-blooded animals, more than 95 percent of the animals used in laboratories are not subject to the minimal protections provided by federal laws. Because they are not protected by the law, experimenters don 't even have to provide mic...

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... if that was all taken away? How would you feel then? Imagine the world if animal abuse was never stopped. The world would look like it does today only worse. There would be stray animals with their bones showing as they walk down sidewalks in search for some scraps. There would be beaten dogs tied to trees no matter the weather or season, without food or shelter for protection. In science labs, the government tells you that they aren’t being abused or mistreated thanks to the Animal Welfare Act, but who knows what happens in those labs. In the labs, the animals will be poked with needles or tested continuously causing pain and suffering. Consequently, causing death of the test subject. Then the scientist/researcher goes and gets another animal to figure out the cure for a type of disease until that animal can’t take no more, resulting in an endless cycle of death.