Dear President,

Animal cruelty is something that happens all over the world, to almost all species of animals. Many animal abusers do not realize that they are causing the animal harm. According to PAWS, if someone abuses animals, that can mean that they were once abused themselves ("Animal Cruelty"). In really bad cases, people abuse animals intentionally to cause them pain. These people often times have mental disabilities. 

Do you ever walk by the animal store and see all of the puppies in those small and tight kennels? Those puppies are almost always from puppy mills. Puppy mills are places where puppies are bred and raised to be sold to places like pet stores. They grow up living in cramped kennels. Stated by PETA, female dogs that are bred in puppy mills are usually euthanized after they can't reproduce anymore ("Puppy Mills"). Puppies with disabilities are sometimes even put down.

Animal hoarding is when an owner has more pets than she/he can handle. They are not taken good care of. The sanitation is not good, and they don't get proper veterinary care. According to ASPCA, some signs that animal hoarding is going on is if "they have numerous animals and may not know the total number of animals in their care, their homes are deteriorated, there is a strong smell of ammonia, animals are emancipated, and if the individual insists that all of their animals are happy and healthy". Also according to ASPCA, "it has been estimated that there are 900 to 2,000 new cases of animal hoarding every year in the United States, with a quarter of a million animals falling victim." ("Animal Hoarding, A Complex Issue").

From, 

Jordyn

"Animal Cruelty". ASPCA, www.aspca.org/animal-cruelty. Accessed on November 2, 2016

"Animal Cruelty". paws kids. PAWS, https://www.paws.org/kids/learn/animal-cruelty. Accessed November 2, 2016

"Puppy Mills: Dogs Abused for the Pet Trade". people for the ethical treatment of animals. PETA, www.peta.org/issues/companion-animal-issues/pet-trade/puppy-mills/.  Accessed November 2, 2016