Running Head: ANIMALS: MORE THAN JUST COMPANIONS 1

Animals: More than just companions

Amanda Estrada

The University of Texas at El Paso

According to National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), 1 in 3 women

and 1 in 4 men have been victims of some sort of physical violence by an intimate partner within

their lifetime. On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate

partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and

men. Within the same year, 6.5 million companion animals are put into U.S. shelters nationwide,

of which, many of those animals were abused by their owners. So, if a person is comfortable

enough to physically abuse another human being, imagine what harm they might do to an

animal.

What constitutes animal abuse? According to the Center of Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC), domestic violence comes in many forms, including physical, sexual, and

emotional violence, and threats. Many victim of abuse that enter shelters report how their abuser

has been known to hurt, kill or threaten family animals. Many abusers abuse animals because

they are usually smaller, and weaker than the abuser, thus making the animal an easy target.

People, nor animals, should be allowed to go through such abuse, no matter the situation.

Although domestic violence is not entirely the same as animal abuse, there are still many

different types of animal cruelty. But what exactly establishes the definition or examples of

abusing an animal?

When talking about animals, there are many different forms of abuse. For example, take

physical abuse into consideration. The word physical abuse is defined as an intentional act

causing injury or trauma to another person or animal by way of bodily contact. But the Seattle

Animal Shelter (Seattle.gov) constitutes animal abuse in forms of torture, torment, mutilation,

cruel beating and cruel killing. There are different ways to spot physical abuse on an animal,
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although, it can be difficult at times to spot when an animal is being abused physically because

they might not have any bruising or swelling.

Physical abuse is not the only type of abuse, neglect is another type of abuse. Neglecting

an animal is a type of abuse because you can desert an animal of its food and water, starving the

animal intentionally, or neglecting to provide it with a suitable home for any type of weather the

animal might encounter. Neglection is just as bad as animal physical abuse because you are

letting the animal suffer any type of danger or harm that may come its way. As little as not

picking up after your pet can count as neglection because an animal should be able to live in a

save sanitary environment in which it has room to move around and play.

Other types of abuse can be considered as mental or emotional abuse. In this case, this

type of abuse isnt always verbal. Verbally you can abuse an animal by always shouting at them,

screaming at the animal and terrorizing the animal in any way verbally, imaginable. There are

many forms of abuse that animals endure, but what else can be considered as abuse?

As stated above, and from ASPCA, approximately 6.5 million companion animals enter

U.S. animal shelters nationwide every year. Then out of that 6.5 million, 1.5 million of those

animals are euthanized, but does euthanasia fit under the laws of animal abuse? As stated by the

SPCA, there are many laws in the U.S. that protect animals. Such laws as: torturing an animal,

failing to provide food care or shelter, abandoning an animal, transporting or confining an animal

in a cruel manner, killing, seriously injuring, or poisoning an animal and many others. If nowhere

to be found in the laws did it say anything about euthanasia being an act towards animal cruelty,

then why do some people consider it to be?

When it comes to the discussion about euthanizing animals, it is a touchy subject to talk

about. The reason for that being is no one wants to see animals hurt or get killed, but what do

they do when there are thousands of animals being abused, or left without a home. There are

certain circumstances in which euthanasia would be put into consideration. Having an animal is a

big responsibility that most people dont understand. And with those great responsibilities come

greater decisions you must make when owning a pet. Take a sick dog for example, there are

situations in which an animal gets sick and needs to have surgery, or maybe the veterinarian bills

are just too high to afford and you are left with that horrible choice of having to put your animal

down. Your animal can suddenly turn on a person or another animal, that animal is then

considered to be aggressive, a threat and a danger to society, in that situation it would be a

reasonable time to consider euthanasia.

In 2015-2016, around 65% of American households own a pet, another 42% own more

than one pet. So in all, there are about 79.7 million households living with a pet. When you take

those statistics into account on how many households own a pet, how much do you think those

households spend on veterinary care per year, per pet. A good percent of those animals are bound

to get sick, but how many owners are willing, or have the income to properly maintain a healthy

lifestyle for their pets(s). Some of those pets will eventually have to be put down because of the

inability of the owners being able to pay for hospital bills. A pet owner would most likely choose

to end the life of the animal that to keep it alive and suffering. Euthanasia is viewed as a negative

outcome, but when it can help both the animal and owner from further pain, then that is the route

most owners choose to go. There are cases where the owner has no other choice but to put the

animal down, like if the animal is threat to other animals and humans. The animal could be very

aggressive and has bit or hurt people before, then those are some choices when the owners could
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consider euthanizing the animal. Animals too can suffer from illness and disease and we are not

always prepared for those things. Things can get complicated really quick when you are not

prepared. Animals are a big responsibility that a lot of people are not willing to accept and the

animal suffers from our negligence.

Although many people try to be against euthanasia, the problems that follow it dont

seem to go away. There are a couple set-backs when it comes to saving the animals from being

killed. There is a certain amount of currency that has to be insured when a shelter decides to save

an animal instead of kill it. Money doesnt just grow on trees, if that were the case, then thered

be far less problems, but that is not this case. Take ASPCA into consideration, they ask for only a

small amount to help raise money to save and keep these animals alive. As stated in their famous

heart-felt PSA, for only 63 cents, you can help rescue a mistreated animal find a save and

permanent home.

ASPCA sets out a certain emotion for you to feel when watching their advertisements,

not to sucker you into giving them your money, but to show you the importance of what really

goes on in these animals lives. ASPCA is one of the many organizations set out to help animals

in need. These organizations use the donations they receive to help mistreated animals get into a

better home. That is why I chose to be against euthanasia, and find different way and solutions to

help these animals. It has to be hard to choose which animals life are you going to save today.

We need more involvement from the community we need awareness we need animal advocates,

there is too much suffering that we do not see but we can only imagine. If we were to walk

around our neighborhoods it would not take too long to find some poor animal being neglected

or without water or food. You see dogs wondering the streets on their own sometimes and it
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makes me wonder if they are lost or just left to wander on their own. Its something to think

about.

When I was younger, I had a cousin who loved pit bulls. At the time, she was living with

my grandmother when she bought a Pitbull named lucky. Lucky was a very friendly and

beautiful dog, he could be a bit too much at times when he would get excited, but what dog isnt.

There were some problems with the housing of the dog, my cousin, living with my grandma, was

hardly home, so she would hardly take care of the dog. My grandma was very petite, so she

could hardly take care of the dog herself, there were times where lucky would jump on my

grandma out of excitement and knock her to the ground, my grandma would end up with bruises.

No one else was able to take care of the dog, so my dad would go every day to feed and play

with the dog. We thought one dog was a lot to handle, but apparently, that wasnt true for my

cousin. She ended up getting a second Pitbull named crooks. Crooks and Lucky were the best of

friends at first, but they got older and being make they were always trying to dominate the other

and that created problems because they started getting into fights and they were the ugliest fights

I had ever witnessed. Both of the dogs would end up with blood and with scratches on their skin

and their tongues and ears ripped. The fights were too much for us to handle, my grandmother

could not go into her own backyard. My cousin did not know what to do anymore. They didnt

have a choice they had to make the decision to put both of them down. It was a very hard

decision because they tried to find someone who would adopt them but no one wanted an adult

male Pitbull. He was the sweetest most gentle animal I had met but things changed when another

male dog was introduced, so we had to put both dogs down. That day was really hard for my aunt

and father, they loved those dogs dearly. My grandmother did not allow any more pets after that.
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This time in my life is what made me aware of the cruelty dogs go through. Although we

as owners werent physically mistreating the dogs, the dogs were mistreating themselves because

they couldnt get along. If there were a place for us to keep the dogs, or to find other people to

adopt them, then we wouldnt have had to put them down. That is why I am against animal

cruelty and euthanasia and I hope I can inspire someone to help mistreated animals find better

homes. Pets arent just animals, theyre family, and we like to take care of our family.

After that incident, if only we had been given more time to find an owner or someone to

adopt them, maybe we could have saved both their lives. They were both very good dogs, it was

just an unfortunate situation that they couldnt get along together. With the animal shelters being

so limited in how much time and space they have available, owners are forced to put down their

animals. With that being said, the importance of adopting an animal and recognizing the

responsibilities it takes to care for that animal is very important. It takes a lot of time to properly

train these animals to be domesticated after being displaced from their previous homes, but if

you do plan to adopt, it can be a great decision and you can help save a life.

In conclusion, I cannot stress how important the awareness of animal abuse is. Domestic

violence is known to start with the abuse of animals first. The first stage of domestic violence is

animal abuse because the abuser starts off small, such as dogs and cats, then works their way up

to human beings. With that they think any type of abuse is acceptable, whether it be physical,

emotional, and any other form of abuse. With this paper, I hoped to have not only inform you of

the dangers that not only humans, but animals go through on a daily basis, but to remind you of

the importance of helping your community, and all that can start by helping save a life and

adopting from your local animal shelter.

References

Texas Animal Cruelty Laws. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2017, from

https://www.spca.org/law?gclid=CjwKEAjwutXIBRDV7-

SDvdiNsUoSJACIlTqlR28gI2TbrJEm9ykgedTUCwrgE1deAi77wPMhyKwWfBoCF

gjw_wcB

Federal Anti-Cruelty Laws. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2017, from http://www.navs.org/what-we-

do/keep-you-informed/legal-arena/companion-animal-issues/federal-anti-cruelty-

laws/?gclid=CjwKEAjwutXIBRDV7-

SDvdiNsUoSJACIlTql3pWc1aEIkaApTyVF5ulhpT5RiMzk25eeqwkR-

x1VxxoCDkPw_wcB#.WRZQE2jytPY

Zaldivar, L. (2016, March 03). Thousands of animals euthanized in El Paso in spite of no-kill

policy. Retrieved May 8, 2017, from http://kokopelli-nmsu.com/thousands-of-animals-

euthanized-in-el-paso-in-spite-of-no-kill-policy/

Guadian, S. (2016, November 01). El Paso Animal Services euthanasia rate drops to record

low. Retrieved May 8, 2017, from http://www.kvia.com/news/top-stories/el-paso-

animal-services-euthanasia-rate-drops-to-record-low/139310845

Animal Cruelty and Domestic Violence. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2017, from

http://aldf.org/resources/when-your-companion-animal-has-been-harmed/animal-

cruelty-and-domestic-violence/
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Ascione, F. R. (1997). The abuse of animals and domestic violence: a national survey of

shelters for women who are battered.

Http://go.liveyourdream.org/domestic-violence-facts-and-figures-cpc/. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8,

2017, from http://go.liveyourdream.org/domestic-violence-facts-and-figures-cpc/?

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Graves, A. (n.d.). Animal Abuse and Neglect. Retrieved May 8, 2017, from

https://www.seattle.gov/animal-shelter/animal-control/animal-abuse-and-neglect

Animal Shelter Euthanasia. (2016, August 25). Retrieved May 8, 2017, from

https://www.americanhumane.org/fact-sheet/animal-shelter-euthanasia-2/

(n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2017, from http://ncadv.org/learn-more/statistics