Animal abuse is one of the biggest issues in the world. The estimated number of animals abused per day is shocking, behind that there are people responsible for that violence. Imagine tons of dogs and cats suffering from being used in laboratories as testers or chickens dying in livestock fights. Not only animals die all over the world due to abuse, but also there is not justice in the legal system. In opposition to domestic violence, animal abuse cases are not registered by state or federal agencies so there is not a real number to calculate the amount of animals suffering. Want to know more? Continue reading this article, 7 Animal Abuse Facts: discover the truth and be the change.
Animal abuse occurs in rural areas and urban areas. There is no distinction of place. It is reported that men under 30 abuse animals intentionally, whereas women under 60 are involved in animal hoarding. From the psychological point of view, men that abuse animals do it to feel that they are in control of everyone at the house. Statistics show that 71% of men who abuse animals also practice violence against women who live with them. It is clear that most of them suffer from mental health issue or have experienced domestic violence when they were kids.
Intentional animal abuse correlates with domestic violence against people and other crimes. Regarding statistics, pet abuse occurred in 88% of families who experience physical abuse. Now, who are the most abused animals? dogs, cats and livestock and horses. It is demonstrated that the places in where animal abuse is most found is the factory farm industry. The global impact of those factories is huge. In china, thousands of cats and dogs are killed to obtain their fur. Imagine the suffering of those animals! 50% of the fur in USA comes from China.
Last year a video about a rabbit being used for cosmetics experiments was flying in the internet. I bet that it touched everyone´s heart because you can see in his entire body the damage and torture he had to bear. Some examples of that damage were loss of vision, skin burn, loss of legs and loss of hearing too. Statistics illustrate that around 115 million are killed by scientists in experiments inside laboratories. Testing experiments include food, drug, chemicals and cosmetic products. You can read more about it here: Animal Cruelty and Abuse: Facts and Stats You Need to Know.
Regarding experiments, it is known that universities tend to capture abandoned dogs in the streets to use them for experiments at their laboratories. Where are they used? In toxicology studies mostly, such as chemicals, harmful pesticides and medications. The same happens with cats that live on the street or are adopted by shelters. More than 19,000 cats are abused in the USA. Something terrible occurs with tigers in China, they live in captivity to be used for the medicine industry. Imagine the global impact of that, tigers are animals in extinction and they are not being preserved with those abusive treatments.
Animal abuse facts: most popular animal fights are dog fights. Dog fighting is terrible, it is a blood sport in which dogs are forced to fight one another while the spectators are watching the "show". There is an economic interest, of course. Each of them bets certain amount of money for the dog that has the best conditions to win the competition. Most of the times, dogs are given drugs or medication so that they resist hits and become more angry than they regularly are. Pitbull suffer from animal abuse in that fights because they are loyal to their owners.
Statistics show that approximately 16,000 dogs are killed every year due to dog fighting in USA. Dogs that fight are trained under the sun usually spend their entire lives on heavy chains. As I mentioned before, those dogs receive anabolic steroids to increase their muscle mass and stimulate aggression. Some of possible injuries that dogs may suffer in the fights are broken bones, blood loss and wounds. Animal fights occur all over the world despite being prohibited in all 50 states in USA and the Virgin Islands.
Birds, tigers, elephants, lions and more animal are being traded all over the world. This is one of the biggest center of commerce in which billions of dollars are traded. International networks are responsible of this dark commerce thought to be more dangerous than the business of arms. Statistics illustrate that because of animal trading, one third of parrot species will be extinguished soon. They are sold in the black market for illegal fighting or collectors. Not only birds can be caught for animal trading but they are also losing their habitat due to climate change.
The impact of illegal wildlife trade is huge. It impacts strongly in the habitat destruction: the zones between wild fauna and humans are destructed so they lose their habitat. Let´s see some of the examples of animal trading: elephant´s poaching to obtain ivory, tigers are killed to obtain their bones and skins. Not all trade of animals is illegal, there are plants and animals caught legitimately for ornamental plants, medicine and tourist ornaments.
The Human Society is the animal protection organization of United States. It is the one responsible for having been pushing the enactment of laws in favor of animals and against animal abuse. The detection and prosecution of animal abuse is necessary to see changes in the world. Actually, there are laws that grant felony penalties for animal torture. Neglect and abuse of animals are covered in the cruelty animals laws. Before these laws existed, people who suffered domestic abuse did want to leave their homes because their pets will be left there.
Nowadays, thanks to the PAWS act victims of domestic violence can leave their homes with their pets. It is also demonstrated that the abuser of families also abused of their pets. Animals that have been abused are usually rescued by organizations. However, it is very hard for them to trust in humans because of the experiences they suffered in the past.
The global impact of rodeo events in inconceivable. It stimulates the use of animals for fun, something that I find completely ridiculous in this century. The result of rodeo events is an stressful environment for the animals involved. Rodeo is an equestrian competitive "sport" arising from the cattle herding in Spain and Mexico. Horses and cattle are the "protagonists" of the events, where humans demonstrate their skills. The number of dead animals is countless, they pay because of the desire of humans to have fun with an evil game. Rodeo events are dangerous for animals and for humans too.
Most bulls participating in those events are electrically prodded and spurred in order to perform in front of the audience. There is a famous movie called "The longest ride" where you can witness everything that I am talking about in this article. You can find it online :) It is very sad to see how those animals want to escape from where they are and be living the life they deserve.
Another shocking movie you can see in Netflix is "What the Health". You can witness by yourself the distress that farm animals undergo in farms. They live enclosed in cages, free from their liberty and stuck with each other. It is sadly to know that farm animals represent 97% of all the animals abused. Imagine the global impact of that figure... These farms force pigs to live under unimaginable conditions: enclosed. Something similar happens with cows! Farms do not respect their biological cycle to give birth. They are forced to have calf without waiting the necessary time to heal.
That issue can be clearly seen in the life span. Cows have a lifespan of 20-25 years, under these conditions they live up to five years on farms all over the world. They get sick all the time. Milking machines cut their body and hurt them daily. Cows are seen as production "machines" and not as animals that feel all that humans do to them. Why that occurs? Due to the high demand of dairy products that continues rising regularly. Animal abuse has to stop! Think about making a change in your diet after knowing all the suffering it takes to eat one beef. Going vegan or vegetarian is always the best choice for your life :)
Read this! How to Go Vegan with no Setbacks, Especially for Beginners.
In this article we learnt seven animal abuse facts. I know it is not a nice topic to discuss, but by making it visible we spread the word to everyone. If you want to make changes in your daily life after reading The global Impact of Animal Trading in the World and Farm Animal Abuse Facts, this is the moment.
Read this article to learn more about Vegan Products: Everything You Need for a Cruelty-Free Skincare.
