Dear Future President:

My name is William Campbell. I live in Oskaloosa, Iowa and I am in seventh grade. I go to Oskaloosa Christian School. I love animals, especially my pets. I have ten pets at this moment. I have a dog, a cat, two birds, a tortoise, four turtles, an anole and an iguana. Many of my pets have been saved. I am not a vegetarian.

I am going to tell you about a topic I think you should bring attention to. Animal cruelty is a big problem and I think we should do something about it. Here are some facts on animal cruelty. Most abused animals are dogs. Some animal abusers hurt animals because they don’t know what they are doing and some abusers were abused as a child and they think that is the only way to treat people and animals. Some people might think that they are helping animals, but are really hurting them by having too many animals.

Here are some reasons I am writing about this. I’ve seen animals beaten and starved to death. My dog was hit by a car in my driveway because someone thought it was funny. My friend has a dog that was found behind a dumpster. I love animals and hate seeing them suffer. Mahatma Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

You are probably wondering why you should listen to me. Well, people aren't the only living things on this planet. We should treat pets with respect. Dogs, cats, and even horses are being tortured for no good reason. It says in Proverbs 12:10 that “A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal.”

This is what I think you should do about it. I think you should give speeches. I think you should increase punishments so people wouldn’t torture animals. There could be sanctuaries for abandoned and abused animals. I also think you should donate money to rescue tortured animals. That's what I think you should do.

In Ecclesiastes 3:19 it says, “For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.” I feel that this Bible reference means that we should treat our animals with respect. Hunting animals for food is alright as long as we do not over hunt. We don’t want to cause animals to become endangered and we don’t want to cause suffering. If we keep hurting animals, we are going to end up hurting ourselves.

Thank you for your consideration of my concern. I hope you read more than only my letter. You are the President of the United States and you should be able to help fix this problem. Animals are an important to this planet and we should take care of them.

Best wishes,

William Campbell

Citations:

"Animal Cruelty Facts and Stats." RSS. The Humane Society of the United States, 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016. <http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/abuse_neglect/facts/animal_cruelty_facts_statistics.html>.

(Editor), Mahatma Gandhi Louis Fischer, Mahatma Gandhi, Michael N. Nagler (Introduction), Mahatma Gandhi Thomas Merton, Mahatma Gandhi, John Dunn, Geoffrey Hawthorn, and Mahatma Gandhi Krishna Kripalani. "Mahatma Gandhi." Goodreads. © 2016 Goodreads Inc, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016. <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5810891.Mahatma_Gandhi>.

"37 Bible Verses about Animal Cruelty." What Does the Bible Say About Animal Cruelty? OpenBible.info, 29 Nov. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016. <https://www.openbible.info/topics/animal_cruelty>.