Do you have a pet that you love? Imagine if your pet was one of the extremely unfortunate animals who wound up in a slaughterhouse, mill, or on the streets fighting for its life after suffering abuse. For some animals, worldwide, this is reality. They wake up one day, and unknowingly take their last breathe of air. Their pain and suffering however has come to an end, and through death, they have finally found peace. Everyday humans carry out acts of intentional neglect and physical abuse towards animals. That practice must be stopped. Animal abuse is a continuing concern in America, and the people must stop the torture of millions of animals in slaughterhouses, puppy mills, and regular homes.
Each year, almost 10 billion farm animals are killed for food. Animals that innocently walk into farm houses or have never seen grass before are tied up in a barn, waiting to be slaughtered. These 10 billion animals include over 35 million cattle, over 116 million pigs, and roughly 9 billion chicken. As animals enter a slaughterhouse they enter through a blue door, a door that no one besides the animals are allowed to go through. From here they are stunned, which essentially kills their brain as they are then chained by their legs, hung upside down and killed as someone cuts their aorta. This process is inhumane and unnecessary. Animals should not be looked at as lesser than humans. As consumers, we should be more aware of where this meat comes from, and work to reduce this brutal treatment towards animals in slaughterhouses.
In the USA there are roughly 10,000 puppy mills. Only 3,000 are regulated. Each year 2.11 million puppies from puppy mills are sold, while 3 million are euthanized as there isn’t enough room in shelters or homes for these helpless creatures. Conditions in puppy mills include tight cages with thin metal wires that dig into puppies’ paws causing disease and irritation. These dogs are kept in cages all their lives, where they sleep and eat in their own waste until being brought to a shelter or store. The animals barely get fed and are served contaminated water. They are frequently found malnourished and have collars so tight they have have to be surgically removed - as they are embedded in the dogs skin. For female dogs giving birth, conditions are no better. Immediately after giving birth, with no time to recover, they are impregnated again. After the female dogs are no longer able to carry puppies, they are often killed as they offer nothing more to the puppy mills. Puppy mills are breeding facilities that focus on profit rather than the health and welfare of animals. People need to stop buying puppies from stores as they are commonly supplied by puppy mills, and often have illnesses. Prospective pet owners should adopt rescue animals first to save the beautiful pets that truly need a home. 
When people think of animal abuse they most commonly think of pets being mistreated in homes. This issue is more common than not. 70.1% of cases reported include dogs, 20.9% involve cats, and 24% include other animals. Animal abuse in homes sometimes can correlate with domestic assault. In the world, there are 70 million pet dogs and 74.1 million pet cats, and every minute 20 men and women are assaulted. According to those reports 71% of abusers are said to target their pets as well. Within all the episodes of domestic violence, nearly 1 million animals are killed from the torture they endure. Often animals are also being used to force actions upon people. For example, an abuser may use threatening to hurt a victim's dog as a way to make them act as they wish. Phil Arkow, expert and coordinator of the National Link Coalition, studies this topic and states that, “acts of animal cruelty often indicate the co-occurrence of other crimes or predict future crimes”. To try and prevent these actions of abuse, PAWS (pets and women's safety) was created. These cases are all preventable by thinking before you act. Animals should not be beaten or pushed around in their own homes. People must continue education on this topic to prevent the reoccurrence of abuse.
Animal abuse, in all of its terrible forms, must end. Animal abuse is unacceptable and unfair to animals. In slaughter houses farm animals are gruesomely killed. In puppy mills the dogs live sad lives, infested with bugs and infection. Domestic animals are being put to the curbs, and beaten for doing nothing but being in the wrong home. To prevent this, people can reduce meat intake, adopt their animals and simply think before they act. Luckily in all 50 states there are now laws against animal abuse as cases of it can be reported as felonies. How would you feel if you were constantly being abused, hit, and starved? People all over the world, rich or poor, young or old, can take a stand and care for animals properly and treat them as deserved. Animals do not deserve the brutality they endure. To so many people pets give an extreme amount of love and hope.
Work Cited
"USDA's official number of animals killed for food." http://www.animalliberationfront.com/Practical/FactoryFarm/USDAnumbers.htm. Accessed 16 Oct. 2017.
"Slaughterhouse - Inside The Slaughterhouse | Modern Meat ... - PBS." http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/meat/slaughter/slaughterhouse.html. Accessed 16 Oct. 2017.
"11 Facts About Puppy Mills | DoSomething.org | Volunteer for Social ...." https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-puppy-mills. Accessed 16 Oct. 2017.
"CSI: Animal Abuse | Tufts Now." 18 Mar. 2015, http://now.tufts.edu/articles/csi-animal-abuse. Accessed 16 Oct. 2017.
"Animal Cruelty Facts and Stats : The Humane Society of the United ...." 31 Aug. 2015, http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/abuse_neglect/facts/animal_cruelty_facts_statistics.html?credit=mr_050616. Accessed 16 Oct. 2017.
"The Truth Behind Puppy Mills - Dog Mom Days." 31 Mar. 2015, http://www.dogmomdays.com/the-truth-behind-puppy-mills/. Accessed 20 Oct. 2017.
"Recognizing Animal Cruelty and Abuse - Petful." 30 Jul. 2013, https://www.petful.com/animal-welfare/recognizing-animal-cruelty-and-abuse/. Accessed 20 Oct. 2017.
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