The Extent of Animal Abuse in the World

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The Extent of Animal Abuse in the World

It is a bright, sunny, spring day in a small town. A father is outside grilling and a little boy is laughing and having a fantastic time playing fetch with his dog. There is a beautiful cat laying in the window sill purring and watching everyone outside while a little girl gently strokes its head. At the end of the night, the pets go to sleep in a warm home with a full stomach. This is the way most individuals expect people to be treating their pets. There are several homes in America that have a pet in their household. Many of these pet owners view their animal as a member of their family. They may think of their pets as their children and spoil their pet in numerous ways. Sadly, there are also hundreds of animals that are not as fortunate. These animals are skin and bones, have mange, and have insects crawling all over their skin. They do not get fed on a daily basis and starve. They crave human love and interaction, but never receive it. Unfortunately, many animals are abused, neglected, and treated inhumanely in several different forms every day and this coldhearted treatment of animals needs to stop.

Although illegal, dogfighting is a common type of animal abuse. According to Linda Kalof and Carl Taylor, “The history of dog fighting begins with training dogs to attack humans and other animals in combative blood struggles, an activity of sport and spectacle that date to at least the fifth century BC” (Kalof and Taylor 321). The fact that people can train an innocent animal to kill other animals or even humans is sickening. This type of animal abuse has been going on for centuries and continues to happen very often in present day. The dog fighting problem in the United...

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