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Would You Recognize Animal Cruelty If You Saw It? - National Humane Education Society

Most of the sane among us recognize that intentional violence against animals is abhorrent. On social media and elsewhere, there are rightfully thousands of us calling to punish these types of animal abusers.  In observance of Animal Cruelty Prevention Month, we are compelled to remind our readers that animal cruelty manifests in more ways than outright abuse. According to Virginia lawyer Michelle Welch’s 2009 article for the American Bar Association, “…many people do not know animal cruelty when they see it.” That is, most forms of animal cruelty do not involve a gun, a knife, or a ball bat. The vast majority of animal cruelty cases arise when an animal is neglected to the point of cruelty. In these cases, the offender allows the suffering adog-1188435_1280s a result of ignorance or clear indifference.

Most state animal cruelty laws stipulate that an owner must provide adequate food, water, space, shelter, and veterinary care. When an animal is deprived of these resources to the point of suffering, the owner may be found guilty of animal cruelty. Take for instance the case of a woman who, in 2014, kept her two Siberian huskies on a chain in the yard for a near 24-hour period in northern Virginia. That day, temperatures soared into the upper 90s. When the woman finally went out to check on the dogs, she realized they had been dead for some time. While the owner may have ascribed the deaths as “accidental,” truth remains the dogs’ deaths occurred as a direct result of the owner’s failure to provide adequate shelter from the elements.

This month, we would like to remind our readers to remain vigilant for animal cruelty in their communities. Support legislation that protects animals from both violence and negligence, and whether an abuser is a hostile assailant or an apathetic pet owner – the result is the same. Any time you witness animal suffering, the best course of action is to call your local animal control unit or sheriff’s department. For more information, visit the Animal Cruelty page of the NHES website.

 

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