Dear Future President,

Hi, my name is Megan. I am in seventh grade and I am eleven.

As the Election Day approaches, I have been thinking…

There are many problems in the US, but one of the biggest is animal abuse. I love animals and a lot of other people do too. According to a 2012 survey, by the Humane Society of the United States, nearly 164 million people in the US own pets. This means that approximately 62 percent of all households are home to at least one pet.

And did you know that many dogs in the window of pet shops are produced from puppy mills? Puppy mills are places where pups are forced to reproduce. Dogs are kept in cages there. Female dogs are bred twice a year and are usually killed or abandoned when they are not able to produce offspring. Puppies are torn away from their mothers and sold to brokers who pack them into crates for transport and re-sale to pet stores.

Another big issue is dog fighting. According to ASPCA, “Dog fighting is a type of blood sport in which dogs are forced to fight one another for the entertainment and/or profit of spectators. Fighting dogs are typically raised in isolation, so they spend most of their lives on short, heavy chains. They are regularly conditioned for fighting through the use of drugs; including anabolic steroids to enhance muscle mass and encourage aggressiveness. Fighting dogs may have their ears cropped and tails docked close to their bodies to minimize the animal’s normal body language cues and to limit areas that another dog can grab during a fight. Fighters usually perform this cropping/docking themselves using crude and inhumane techniques. Therefore, this makes animal rights a problem that you should be focusing on in this coming year.

One final Issue with animals is performing. In many circuses, zoos, TV shows, rodeos and more, animals are forced to perform. They are whipped, and forced to jump through flaming hoops. Zoos remove animals form their natural habitats. This proves that animals do not have many rights in our country.

To conclude, Animals should have more rights in the US! It’s not fair that they are forced to do things that they aren’t made to do. Animals deserve more respect! And I for one, think that we should help them. Therefore, you, the next president of the United States, should be helping the future! Us and our animals.

From, Megan F.