Does Abuse Matter

Does Abuse Matter

Justin Bernard

DeVry University

Does Abuse Matter

We can learn a lot about ourselves by the way we interact with animals. How we are seen treating animals reflect a great deal on how we might treat others. Animal abuse should not be tolerated because this type of behavior could lead to a destructive habit and the possibility of abusing a person. There are so many programs and other media out there to help combat animal abuse. Animals maybe lower on the food chain but no life should be abused.

In the late 1800’s Henry Bergh was an aristocrat who started the first humane society in North America while appointed as a diplomat in the Russian court of Czar Alexander II. He believed that animals, “mute servants of mankind”, should be treated with kindness by humans and therefore be protected under law (ASPCA). In 1866, he noticed that a horse was being whipped by its driver and that people stopped not to watch him, but watch a well-dressed person telling the driver that it is against the law to beat an animal. The early effort of the Humane Society was there to protect horses and livestock and later started helping cats and dogs. Bergh was great at public speaking which helped him in passing legislation to protect all animals. All too often animal abuse is seen being done and no one stops and thinks about the long term effects that could linger from this abuse.

Whether it is an animal or a person, abuse of any kind should not be tolerated. As children, studies have shown aggressive criminals most likely abused animals first and then moved on to humans. Imitating actions from those who are authority figures is what kids do best. Abuse is never a solution to any problem. By condoning this type of behavior we are teaching our young ones that this is how we are to behave as an adult. “In many cases, the animal is just the last victim in a chain of abuse that filters down from the strongest family member to the weakest. At the same time, research...