Monday, April 03, 2006

Rachel's question

How do you feel about animal abuse? Do you think that the U.S is properly handling the problem? Do you feel that the subject is clearly defined as to what is animal abuse and what isn't? Do we need stronger laws against animal abuse in the US?

12 comments:

English student said...

This is one of those issues I know little about but still want to throw in my 2 cents. I am embarrassed and ashamed about how people treat animals, and yet I do nothing about it. I don't even find out what it is exactly I am so repulsed by. I just don't have the time, I guess. I think it's beneath humans to treat other creatures as we do just because we CAN. We should strive to be like our creator or like His son and not harm Earth's creatures. Using them for testing as we do is a disgrace. Maybe decades from now people will finally recognize that animals can be our friends and that we don't have to control them or dominate them or mistreat them but just let them walk the Earth in peace.

God told people that we have dominion over the creatures of the Earth. For Christ's sake, I can't believe we translated that to mean we can do whatever we want with them. We're supposed to take care of them! Man has dominion over his wife, and he TAKES CARE of her; man has dominion over animals, and he breeds them for mass consumption and laboratory testing. There's something seriously wrong there.

Jason Horath

Tim aka 'pigeon boy' said...

I quite agree, but on the flip side, it is also important to remember that they are different from us and that they are under our care. Therefore, if its humans or animals, humans must come first. Ethically we must keep this in mind when we make decisions

English student said...

Just thinking about an animal being abused breaks my heart. What's the point in getting a dog if you are going to stick it in a little kennel in the back yard? In my last apartment complex I had a neighbor who lived on the third floor and keept his dog out on the balcony 24/7. He never even took the dog for a walk to relieve himself, he just let him go to the bathroom on the balcony. After about a month of watching this, I just couldn't take it anymore. I went up to his door with my check book in hand and offered him $1000 for the dog. To my suprise, he turned me down. I ended up going to the apartment complex manager a few days later and gave my complaint to them. Unfortunatly, I ended up moving shortly after and don't know what came of it. How can people be so cruel to something that shows them nothing but unconditional love? Believe me, if I could have climbed up to that balcony and stolen that dog, I would have. I think organizations like the humane society and the ASPCA(I can't remember what it stands for, but I call them the pet police) are doing the best they can, but I don't think they are recieving the help they need in order to do their job properly. I even order ASPCA checks so that some of my money spent on the checks goes to the organization. In adition, I think the guildlines for animal abuse are to lenient. It has to be an extreem circumstance before they are allowed to do anything about it. I think the best way we can help them is to keep an eye out for animal abuse and then report it as soon as you see it.

Good Luck,
Valerie Myers

English student said...

I have to respectfully disagree with Mr. Horath yet again. How does he know what God meant when He gave us dominion over the other creatures of the Earth? I know that Jesus himself was not a vegetarian, which tells me that it's okay for humans to use animals for the betterment of human life. No, we should not torture animals for no reason, but if we can improve human life by breeding, eating, and experimenting on animals, that is most likely what God intended when He gave us dominion over them. If people start crying about animal rights, what comes next? Plant rights? Rock rights? I think animal rights activists need to understand that humans have gained their status as #1 by being the strongest and smartest of all the species. That's what life on earth comes down to, survival of the fittest, and we have proved ourselves to be the most fit being for the planet.

James Burke

English student said...

i hate animal abusers, i mean abusing people is awful, but to abuse practically defenseless animals is worse in principal. and no i do not think the U.S is handling it well at all. I believe its defined clearly enough to be effective. The laws i believe are strong enough, but i think they could enforce the laws a lot better.
-Richard Hon

English student said...

I get very angry when I hear about animal abuse. No, I do not think the United States is properly handling the problem. No, I think the subject is not clearly defined and there are a lot of grey areas. We really need to change the laws regarding animal abuse in America to make the laws much stricter.

Robbin R.

English student said...

I don't think animal abuse should happen or be allowed to happen. It is one thing to disapline your animal but yet another to sit there and beat it over and over again. That is completely wrong. I am not aware of the laws against animal abuse in the US. It is like any other law or regulation that is out there, if it doesn't have top priority then not a whole lot is going to be done about it. It is very tough to catch some people in the act even if the rules were more clearly defined. Just like child abuse it is always going to happen.
Nancy Byard

English student said...

I think that if you choose to have an animal you should make sure that they are well taken care of you need to take them to the vet if there is a problem and treat them as one of the family. I think if the animal is being miss treated there should be laws so they can be taken away and maybe there are laws I really don't know. I know I have a dog and he is a special part of our family and I could imagine abusing him
WeTona Houtzel

English student said...

animl abuse is wrong. no i do not think that animal abuse is being properly handled. no i do not think that animal abuse is defined as celarly as what is abuse to an animal. yes we need stronger laws that handle animal abuse.

animal abue is one of the signs of a psycopath. studies have shown that psychopaths hve abuse animal when they wrere a child. so abuseing animals is one of the signs of a pchycopath.

English student said...

I don’t feel that animal abuse is defined adequately by the law. I believe that the law should be more specific. In my eyes, the law does not give an outline of the crimes and their punishments.
Last year my friend Cody adopted a dog came from a home that had 50 abused animals. The dog was blind in one eye and partially blind in the other because malnutrition. He also has a verity of diseases because of the amount of feces that the animals were living in. The person that was in position of the 50 animals was never charged with animal abuse.
I think that this crime should require jail time as well as a huge fine. I feel that the person that is convicted of animal abuse should have to pay for the medical bills for the animal. As well as that they should never be allowed to own a pet again.
David Floyd

English student said...

I think animal abuse is horrible.The laws should be stonger to stop people from harming helpless animals. We all have to live on this earth and belong here so we should all get along.

jamell b

English student said...

abuse not kind.I think its cras and unfair.Dustin