Animals, such as dogs, cats, birds and other living creatures that are kept as pets and sometimes not are being treated with no respect by everyone in the U.S and even Florida. You may ask, how is there no respect for them? Or more importantly, say to yourself there are many  more substandard issues and problems happening in the U.S. that should be taken care of other than animal issues.

To start off, I am a 17 year old girl speaking from Miami, Florida and I am highly concerned of the way animals these days or more likely for the past years have been treated.

Animals that are loving best friends and also pets to humans of our kind are being all the time thrown on the street and end up killed because of wandering outside where it is not safe. Most of them sometimes get beaten by their caretakers or even abused. Death by an automobile, bus, train, or even physical abuse could have occurred and it is very sad to hear and even see when an incident like this has happened. Most people think it is normal to see animals on the road alone and just pass them or even hit them. For examples, I find it very disrespectful if an animal is crossing the street and a car hits them and does not stop. This happens on a daily basis and it is not pleasant. I myself have been through a melancholy tragedy where my dog, which was only 3 years old, had went for a walk outside and suddenly decided to cross the street and sadly got hit by a car. The car did not stop or try to even see what he/she hit. I am trying to built awareness for many animals so they do not suffer from this tragedy or even worse because there are many cruel and uncaring people in this world that don’t mind seeing animals hurt or dead.

The Humane Society of the United States estimates that there are at least 1 million animals a year that are abused or killed in relation to animal cruelty. HSUS states that the most often reported animals that get abused are dogs, cats, horses, and other livestock. Every day on social media people like to post animals getting abused. According to peta.org, animals have been put online to show that they've been physically abused and are even put in adult pornography which is very messed up.It gets plenty of other people and I emotionally disturbed just to hear and see these poor innocent animals getting abused to these kind of extents. This is not a game nor is it amusing. Just think for a second if it were you getting abused and you were only an animal that had no words to say “Please stop, I’m in pain” or “I’m hungry, please give me some food”. Most animals don't do any harm to people and mind their own business. Others would be your friend no matter what harm you do to them. If this is the case of most animals, then why abuse and treat them like they are a piece of nothing.

May we not forget about animals becoming a science experiment. It is completely wrong and out of normality to test an animal on products to see if it is fit for us humans or anything else. In the humanesociety.org they say "Tests that use animals to assess the safety of cosmetics and personal care products—such as lipstick, mascara, shampoo, and cologne—are still extremely common in the United States. It's estimated that thousands of mice, guinea pigs, rats, and rabbits suffer and die in these tests every year in the U.S. alone". The poor animals don't even have a say on what they want. If anything should be tested, the animals must not have to be the trial, the scientists should. Animals should not have to suffer from abuse from scientists nor products. These animals deserve to be treated with care. They should not be treated like a science experiment.

Animals deserve better. They should be treated like they are jewels and not garbage.

These animals need our help and nurture. Pets are like children if you look at it. They need the proper care just like a baby or toddler. They will not know how to take care of themselves when they are in a tough situation. No matter how old they get they always need a helping hand. So that’s why I ask of you Mr. Bill Nelson that you take this case into your own hand. If it is possible, it would be an honor that this can be taken into the future presidents hands as well. This is so all of the United States can be fully aware of this worriment. It would be well appreciated that this situation can be taken seriously because animals are on this earth for the same reason humans are. To live their life. Animals may not have words to speak up, thus I speak for the voiceless.

It is only best that an animal gets treated with the love and care like most humans are towards one another. Fines should be raised to $8,000 and 8 years in prison for animal cruelty. If an animal gets abused, actions must be taken as quickly as possible as it were a child in need of help. An animal's life is just as precious as a life of a humans.

Thank you for considering this matter.

Sincerely,

Aracelli Elshot-Braam (Grade 12th)

Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High School