Dear Future President,

      There is an increasing issue of animal abuse throughout the United States. ´Animal Abuse´ is when a person hurts or keeps basic needs from an animal. It could be intentional or not, but if what the person is doing is injuring or harming the animal, that is abuse. I believe that this is a growing issue in the United States. According to the website Brandon Gaille, ¨There are up to 2,000 cases of animal hoarding per year reported in the United States, resulting in more than 250k abuse cases.¨ This statistic states just the amount of animal hoarding and abuse cases that are reported yearly. Just think about how many have gone unreported and unnoticed. Brandon Gaille also states that ¨There are about 6,000 documented cases of dog abuse that occur every year.¨ This means that out of the 250,000 animal abuse cases reported per year, 6,000 of them are just done on dogs alone. This is such a large issue in the United States and needs to be stopped. But, before you think about laying down regulations you will probably want to know what states are in the most need. To be truthful, all the states are in need, but the most highly populated states will be in the most need. The more people they have, the more opportunities an animal has to be hurt and abused. I believe that animal abuse should be the priority of our future President because everyone deserves to have rights, not just humans. If we can stop animal abuse in the US, we can help other countries tackle animal abuse. By the United States taking the first step, we can inspire and support other countries in doing the same.

    I believe that animal abuse is wrong and results in much trauma and death for the animals. This must stop! According to ASPCA ¨ Approximately 7.6 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.9 million are dogs and 3.4 million are cats. Each year, approximately 2.7 million animals are euthanized (1.2 million dogs and 1.4 million cats).¨ This statistic demonstrates that tragic amount of animals that enter animal shelters, as they have no other place to call home. This results in 2.7 million getting euthanized annually. The website Gaille states that "Every year, about 10k bulldogs die because they have been bred to fight for gambling or entertainment.¨ This shows that not only are animals dying to do to just being dumped off, but they are dying for people's entertainment. How have we as a nation let animal abuse come to this extreme state it is in? Animal abuse matters because animals are living, breathing creatures just like us humans and they deserve to be treated as so. Animals should be treated with respect and kindness worldwide so that our future generations of children, grandchildren, and so forth will never have to experience a world with animal abuse. Also, there are so many ways to abuse animals, and, as of now not enough ways to prevent this from happening. Mr. Ryan Rauch states that ¨66,000 dogs and 21,000 cats are subjected to testing every year.¨ The website Gaille says ¨There are up to 2,000 cases of animal hoarding per year reported in the United States, resulting in more than 250k abuse cases.¨ This matters because there are countless ways to abuse an animal and not enough ways to stop people from harming them. If someone as powerful as the president takes a stand against it the likelihood of it stopping increases immensely. Abuse to creatures, especially as beautiful and sweet as animals, is horrifying. It needs to stop once and for all!

    As horrific as animal abuse is, there are many other important issues to be facing in the United States right now. Ms. Rebecca Riffkin says ¨Americans in February are slightly more likely to name the economy generally as the "most important problem facing the country" than they have been in the last two months. Seventeen percent of Americans name this issue as the top problem, up from 13% last month and 9% in December. In those months, the government and terrorism were more prominent in Americans' minds, edging out the economy as the No. 1 problem.¨ and PeoplePress back that up saying, ¨The economy and terrorism are the top two issues for voters this fall. Overall, 84% of registered voters say that the issue of the economy will be very important to them in making their decision about who to vote for in the 2016 presidential election; slightly fewer (80%) say the issue of terrorism will be very important to their vote.¨ This matters because the 2 passages show that Americans are voting the economy and terrorism as their largest concerns for the United States. These are 2 crucial things to consider especially when running a country. I believe our mission should be to get ¨animal abuse” up there with them. We need to really get Americans caring about our own future but as well as the one of our loyal animals.

    To resolve the issue of animal abuse, you, the President, could lay down some regulations that come with owning a pet that will apply to every state. The regulations could be something like- must have a stable income to supply for the pet, if they have a history of abuse to animals/people they will not be permitted to own a pet, home checks must be done for every home before allowing them to own a pet, every pet owner must sign a contract saying that they will take care of the pet’s basic needs (food, water, shelter) and if not they will take it back to the store/shelter they adopted from, etc. Also, you could encourage people to report animal abuse to the proper authorities as soon as possible. I believe that this best connects to Global Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. This would help the US support the UN´s initiative because we would be supplying animals with the peace and justice they deserve. The Global Goals are to help us to make the world better one step at a time. By taking a stand against animal abuse, we´d be doing just that. This matters because if we, as a country, could stop animal abuse, this would be one step closer to solving world peace. If we step up against animal abuse, I believe other countries could follow in our footsteps in making life better for animals and helping to create overall peace. This is a priority because this is a large issue that not only affects our country, but other countries too. If the US can take a stand against it I believe other countries would follow. This would be a very big step for the whole world, and it would all start with our country taking a stand to make animal abuse end. If we can overcome this large issue, it will leave us victorious and motivated to conquer other issues in our country today as well. We can it one step at a time, each closer and closer to bringing animals the peace and love the deserve.

Sincerely,

Annicka H. 

 This graph illustrates what types of animals are used in animal testing/experimentation in 2015 alone.