Cruelty to animals
From Free net encyclopedia
| Articles related to Abuse. |
| By means |
|
Physical abuse Psychological abuse Sexual abuse |
| By victim |
|
Child abuse / Domestic violence |
| By offender |
Cruelty to animals refers to treatment which causes unacceptable suffering or harm to animals. The definition of "unacceptable suffering" varies. Some consider only suffering inflicted for sadistic reasons to be cruelty to animals, whereas others include the suffering inflicted for other reasons, such as producing fur or meat, or in the animal-testing and vivisection industries. Many people regard cruelty to animals as a major moral issue.
Psychological studies have shown that individuals willing to inflict harm on animals are more likely to do so to humans. One of the known warning signs of certain psychopathologies, including anti-social personality disorder, also known as psychopathic personality disorder, is a history of torturing pets and small animals, a behavior known as zoosadism. According to the New York Times, "[t]he FBI has found that a history of cruelty to animals is one of the traits that regularly appears in its computer records of serial rapists and murderers, and the standard diagnostic and treatment manual for psychiatric and emotional disorders lists cruelty to animals a diagnostic criterion for conduct disorders. [1] "A survey of psychiatric patients who had repeatedly tortured dogs and cats found all of them had high levels of aggression toward people as well, including one patient who had murdered a young boy." [2]
The animal welfare and animal rights movements represent two different responses to the issue. The animal welfare movement believes that the use of animals for human ends is justified in some instances, but is concerned with ending unnecessary suffering and with improving animals' treatment. Some in the animal rights movement hold that humans should stop making use of animals.
Contents |
Laws against animal cruelty
Most jurisdictions in the USA have enacted statutes which forbid cruelty to animals; see Cruelty to Animals Acts in the United States. These statutes provide minimal requirements for care and treatment of animals, but do not require optimal treatment or mandate kindness or love. They require that animals be provided shelter, food, water and medical treatment and that animals not be tortured, or killed in an inhumane manner. Traditional or controversial practices such as treatment of rodeo and circus animals or medical research are usually excepted from the operation of the law.
In a few jurisdictions, notably, Massachusetts and New York, agents of humane societies and associations may be appointed as special officers to enforce statutes outlawing animal cruelty, see the Massachusetts statute and the New York statute. Brute Force: Animal Police and the Challenge of Cruelty by Arnold Arluke is an ethnographic study of these special humane law enforcement officers.
In Australia, many states have enacted legislation outlawing cruelty to animals. Whilst Police maintain an overall jurisdiction in prosecution of criminal matters, in many states officers of the RSPCA and other animal welfare charities are accorded authority to investigate and prosecute animal cruelty offences.
Most jurisdictions simply depend on law enforcement officers who may not be knowledgeable in the area or assign it a high priority. Spectacular stories about grave atrocities and animal hoarders are mainstays of local TV news reporting, but most offences concern lack of adequate shelter or food and similar mundane deficiencies in animal care.
In the United Kingdom, cruelty to animals is a criminal offence and one may be fined or jailed for it for up to five years. One notable case occurred when a group of students placed a hedgehog within a microwave in the late 1990s. Bestiality is also banned, and one may be prosecuted for running over a dog or a similarly sized animal, although not a cat.
In Japan animal cruelty laws historically were lax and seldom enforced. The 2002 Japan animal cruelty case lead to the first animal cruelty felony conviction in Japan. The case awakened a movement to strengthen animal cruelty laws.
In Mexico, animal cruelty laws are slowly being implemented. The Law of Animal Protection of the Federal District is wide-ranging, based on banning 'unnecessary suffering'. The law prohibits conducts from dissection for students in high school or earlier years, to negligence of thw owner in providing medical attention to an animal that needs it. Similar laws now exist in most states. However, as many laws in the country, this is blatantly disregarded by much of the public and authorities; animal protection legislation is gaining relevance very slowly.
Signs of abuse
Image:Zoosadism questionnaire.png Signs of pet abuse include:
- Unusually frightened, fearful or subdued
- Fractures
- Bruising
- Eye injuries
- Scalds and burns
- Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy (MSP)
- Signs of malnutrition
- Significant matting or other poor grooming indicators
- Ignored health problems
- Injury history incompatible with injury or owner refuses to comment on how injury occurred
- Owner shows lack of concern for animal’s injuries
Adapted by Forensic Nursing from: Munro The Battered pet (1999)
Further reading
- Arnold Arluke, Brute Force: Animal Police and the Challenge of Cruelty, Purdue University Press (August 15, 2004), hardcover, 175 pages, ISBN 1557533504. An ethnographic study of humane law enforcement officers.
- Forensic Nursing: Four-legged Forensics: What Forensic Nurses Need to Know and Do About Animal Cruelty online version
- Munro H. (The battered pet (1999) In F. Ascione & P. Arkow (Eds.) Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, and Animal Abuse. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 199-208.
See also
- American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
- Animal rights
- Animal welfare
- Zoosadism
- European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals
- Freedom for Animals
- Humane Society
- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
- Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA)
- Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA)
- World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA)
External links
Canada's Massive Seal Hunt and the Clubbing of Baby Seals: Stop the Cruelty, If Not the Slaughterde:Tierquälerei es:crueldad hacia los animales ja:動物虐待 zh:虐待動物 [[ == ==