Dear Next President,

Animal abuse is an issue in today’s society and I think we need to stop causing harm towards animals for careless reasons. No animal or pet deserves to be dragged from a car or left on the side of a highway. I believe people have different perspectives on what animal abuse is exactly. There is a difference between discipline to animals and abuse. The law in the United States for animal abuse is defined as “commits an act to any animal which results in a cruel death, or excessive or repeated infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering is a 3rd Degree Felony with a fine up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment up to 5 years”. Animal cruelty can be taken in many ways so the law needs to be broadened and brought to everyone's attention.

Animal cruelty is happening in many forms such as neglect, hoarding, fighting, beating, mutilation, throwing, stabbing, burning, and vehicular. However many people see abuse in different ways. Some people may think hitting their dog is discipline but that is very debatable and could be considered abuse if the hitting gets repetitive. The outlooks on animal abuse needs to be broad to show that any little form of cruelty can be considered abuse!

In the US, it has been estimated that there are 900 to 2000 new cases every year of animal hoarding with 250,000 animals falling victims. It is heartbreaking knowing 250,000 animals are dying from human actions. There is not a positive effect coming from animal abuse, so why do we do it? Animals are dying from us and we are harming them intentionally. ASPCA(American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) says approximately 7.6 million animals enter animal shelters a year, almost half being neglected or abused. Is that what we want for our animals around the US?

To make animal cruelty decrease, we need to make our law broader. Meaning a larger definition of animal abuse so everyone will understand what causes senseless harm to animals. Personally, I strongly believe that no one should be hurting animals for illogical reasons. However as much as I wish there would never be animal cruelty, someone will feel the need to throw their cat across a room or leave their dog outside for a few days. That needs to stop and making the law broader and bringing it everyone's attention will help improve the decrease of animal abuse.

Not many can argue animal abuse is a good thing but those that support it most likely are taking their anger out on animals. For those who are disgusted that animal abuse is occurring all of the time, they need to put an end to it. The law has a small definition of abuse, and needs to be broader. It will make people realize small acts of harm are still abuse and animals do not deserve to be treated that way. Harming animals helps no one, so let's save our animals.

Sincerely,

Jenna P, Grade 10