Improving the Lives of Companion Animals
Animals should never be viewed as property to be bought or sold. One of our main goals is to raise awareness and increase legislation surrounding the sale of animals for profit, and to promote animal adoption over purchase. So many helpless animals are available for adoption throughout the world, and every time an animal is purchased from a breeder, another loving animal sitting in a shelter cage remains without a loving home. With only a minor fee payable to the adoption agency, you could be the difference in giving that animal the opportunity they are longing for.
Animals can’t advocate for themselves, so we strive to be the voice they desperately need in cases of abuse or unethical practices.
Backyard Breeding and Puppy Mills
The rise of backyard breeders and puppy mills continues to cause animals harm due to the lack of ethical standards, knowledge, and experience that animals raised to be sold are often subject to. With many backyard breeders, the health, care, and well-being of the animal takes a backseat to the almighty dollar. Dogs and other animals are bred without the proper care to ensure essential genetic matching, and without regard to registration with the appropriate kennel or breed club, yet these breeders sell their animals for profit at purebred prices. Because there is no regard to quality breeding with respect to lineage, many times offspring seem healthy, even thriving, at first, but soon begin to show signs of a hereditary or chronic condition as a direct result of improper breeding. Other problems may also crop up as these dogs age, including aggressive or combative personality tendencies.
The animals are kept in cramped quarters or cages, with unhealthy, sometimes even downright filthy, conditions. Usually viewed as simply a dollar sign, these animals don’t receive the necessary veterinary care or socialization they need for quality of life, and are often left to suffer with agonizing pain, injury, illness, or parasitic infections. And when the females begin to show signs of wear and tear on their ravaged bodies, they are tossed aside like yesterday’s news, usually taken to a shelter or euthanized.
Imagine being forced to sit in your own waste, with little space to move, and no regard for your pain and suffering, and then you can begin to comprehend what these animals go through. These practices must end, and every step we take toward appropriate widespread federal legislation is a step closer to giving these animals their lives back.
Abuse and Neglect
You may have had the unfortunate experience of seeing a dog or other household animal left chained outside their home in extreme weather conditions, and potentially without access to proper shelter, food, or water. Whether situations such as these are intentional or unintentional, it is considered abuse and must be treated as such by the proper authorities.
Just as with abuse of humans, animal abuse can take many different forms. The type of abuse basically comes down to the intention behind the action, such as whether it was accidental, a repeat offense, or in the most severe cases, malicious harm, mutilation, or torture. Some negligent or unintentional crimes, such as overworking an animal, leaving an animal in a car, or abandonment, are typically viewed as misdemeanors. However, even animal owners who commit minimal offenses need to be held responsible for their actions, and should receive anything from a hefty fine to a prison sentence corresponding to the circumstance of negligence.
We believe there should be a consistent set of guidelines for owners to adhere to in ensuring the comfort of their animal. These should include standards such as:
- Clear shelter specifications that take into account animal size and weight, and explicitly prohibit the use of chains, to allow for escape as needed
- Access to quality water and food at all times, specifically clean, fresh food and fresh water (not frozen)
- Definition of extreme temperatures, with a recommended light exposure and comfortable temperature zone for each animal
- Limitations on crate confinement to not exceed a certain number of hours per day, based on animal size and socialization needs, and guidance on proper crate size for each animal
In addition, pack animals need to be kept in natural conditions with other members of their pack. When this policy cannot be adhered to, such as in cases where aggressive animals may harm other members of the pack, they must be given human interaction of at least 2 hours over the course of each day.
Animal abuse often crosses over into felony territory when there is significant malicious intent without regard to the life of the animal, or in circumstances of animal death or prolonged suffering at the hands of the perpetrator. Depending on the action and subsequent consequences, a minimal prison sentence of 10 years would be recommended. In cases of animal death, a life prison sentence should be made mandatory.
It is our goal to work toward legislation that will provide consistency in laws and the subsequent consequences that perpetrators will face in terms of misdemeanor, felony, or death of an animal caused by severe torture or abuse.
Unethical Cultural Practices
It may be difficult for many to comprehend, but there are cultures around the world that practice inhumane treatment of dogs and cats under the guise of good fortune or good luck. In some countries, dogs and cats are tortured, skinned alive, boiled, or bludgeoned to death because these cultures believe, greater animal suffering equates to better tasting meat. They also cut of the paws of dogs, all with their mouths sealed shut, and make soup that is thought to bring good fortune. Once the paws are cut off the dog is discarded as it lays there dying an agonizing and slow death. Our mission is to expand education on the inhumanity and pain to the animals involved. In many cultures, this is viewed as the norm, and through proper education, we believe we can begin to break the cycle of animal abuse in cultures around the world.
Although it is not quite as emotionally draining to imagine as described above, there are also vending machines in other countries that sell dogs right out of the machine. The treatment of these animals as a commodity, similar to purchasing a soda or bag of chips, is degrading and disrespectful and must be stopped.
We hope that by continuing to advocate for helpless animals in cruel situations of abuse or neglect, we can continue to be the voice these companion animals need to thrive in loving and caring environments.