An Overview Of Animal Cruelty

prevention of cruelty to animals

One of the most retched things that occur on this earth is animal cruelty. For those who cannot fathom the reasons why someone would want to hurt an animal, this is indeed a troubling topic. The good news is that the more education a people gets on the subject, the better off the animals will be. In order to do this, one should become familiar with the types of cruelty and what actually constitutes abuse to not only domestic animals, but all animals.

Acts of omission or passive cruelty are forms of animal cruelty. This is not a form of physical cruelty, but rather it is a form of passive abuse and is perpetrated if the animal is left without water, food, shelter or adequate medical care. Most of these cruelty cases occur because the pet owners are poorly educated about how to properly care for their domestic animals. If left untreated and unnoticed, a pet can perish.

The opposite of passive cruelty is active cruelty to animals. This is when an individual deliberately and with intent causes physical harm to an animal. Those who display these acts of commission, as they may also be called, usually suffer from severe psychological issues. If a child displays this behavior at any time, then a parent should seek immediate help. These occurrences have been linked to sociopathic behavior and can become worse as the child reaches adult life. As well, this type of cruelty often happens in an abusive home. In a union between humans, often an abusive partner will abuse the family pet for revenge.

Animal cruelty is one thing that can be stopped if individuals will only take the first step. Through education, people can learn about the types of cruelty and how to stop it from happening. Animal abuse will not be stopped or contained in one day. However, if we, as a collective community, can become active in helping the animals that are mistreated, then perhaps one day we can put an end to this epidemic. All it takes is education and becoming involved in just a small way. One person can really make a difference in the life of an animal.