Animal Cruelty around the World - Coursework Example

Animal Cruelty around the World

Introduction

Animal cruelty refers to any abuse directed at animals, which may inflict harm or suffering on them. In most countries, animal abuse is a criminal offense that is punishable by fine or a jail sentence. Although there are laws prohibiting humans from harming animals, the vice continues to grow and is expected to increase in the future. Animal abuse manifests in different forms, which may be broadly classified as direct and indirect. Direct abuse refers to all the harmful actions that are perpetrated by humans towards animals and manifests in the form of inflicting physical harm on an animal (Ascione 9). On the other hand, indirect abuse involves neglecting animals, which manifests in the form of failure to provide them with food, shelter, and medical care among others. There is also a growing trend in animal violence, which manifests in the form of sexual abuse among other vices. Cases of people abusing animals sexually have also increased tremendously over the past few decades in many parts of the world.

Numerous factors contribute to the rapid growth of animal violence across the globe. One of the factors is the lack of stringent rules against animal cruelty. In some countries like Colombia and many others across the globe, there are no explicit laws criminalizing animal cruelty. The lack of such laws gives the citizens the incentive to abuse the animals for their personal gains. Another factor that has contributed to the growth of animal violence is the flourishing trade for the animal products. In the recent past, the business for animal skins, fur, and ivory has boomed prompting poachers to kill more animals to reap the benefits accruing from the trade (Siebert 47). In fact, some countries allow the trade despite the harm it causes to the world. Until recently, ivory was traded freely in most parts of the globe, especially in China and South East Asia. The free trade of elephant tusks contributed to the mass killing of elephants by poachers in many parts of the world. The problem is also attributed in part to the existence of barbaric cultural norms that support animal abuse. In some cultures, for example, bull and cork fighting are deemed a heritage, yet these activities increase the cases of animal abuse.

Other reasons for the continued animal violence include increased use of animal characters in movies, drug abuse, and industrial animal farming among others.

Given the rapid growth in the number of cases involving animal violence and the negative consequences of the vice, this paper explores its prevalence globally and examines the forms, causes, and the strategies that different countries are employing to mitigate the vice. It will also look at the vice in different counties and the laws put in place to address the issue.

History of Animal Violence

Animal violence has a long history and took different forms during the early days. The conventional animal abuse involved killing animals to obtain valuable products such as fur, skin, horns, and ivory. The listed products would be used to make different types of products such as clothing and drums, which were traded for other products (Merck 23). Additionally, the traditional poachers would kill the animals for food since agriculture was not popular during those days. The problem was compounded by the evolution of barter trade that involved the exchange of goods with other goods. Poachers would hunt and kill animals and trade the products with other goods from other communities. The trade resulted in animal violence that was predominantly against the wild animals. However, domestic animals were also subject to the abuse. In the early days, transport was less mechanized and many people used animals for transport purposes. The animals were mostly used to transport the trade goods to the market. Most of this merchandise was heavy and the animals were injured in the process. Moreover, they were forced to walk for long distances without food and water, which led to much suffering. Some of the animals that were mostly used to transport goods in the ancient times include donkeys, camels, horses, bulls, and dogs. Subjecting any animal to heavy work is an abuse, which was the case for the ancient wild animals. Apart from transporting goods to and from the market, some animals were used to plough large pieces of land. It is important to note that the traditional farming was not mechanized, as it is the case today. Certain types of animals such as bulls would be used to prepare the farming land for planting.

In addition to the heavy workloads that the ancient animals were subjected to, the animals were also used in warfare, for example, horses, dogs, and dolphins. The animals were used to transport the warriors to the battlefields and to carry the weapons to be used. It is also alleged that some animals would be used to transport explosives, which would set off and lead to their death. In the battlefields, the warriors would use the animals to shield themselves from harm, which predisposed the animals to the risk of injuries and even death.

Forms of Animal Abuse

Physical. Physical abuse can be defined as a harmful act by a human being that is intended to cause bodily harm to an animal. It puts the life of an animal at risk of injury and can result in poor health or even death of the concerned animal. In most western countries, any act that may cause injury to an animal’s body is illegal and considered a form of physical abuse (Merck 21). Domestic and wild animals may be subject to physical abuse. However, the most common type of physical abuse affects the domestic animals owing to their friendliness to the caretaker. Physical abuse can cause emotional and psychological distress, which may adversely affect the health of the concerned animal in the long run. Physical abuse is defined differently in various countries and there seems to be no universal definition. The lack of universal definition of what constitutes physical abuse has been a key drawback to the fight against animal abuse. However, in most countries, any aggression likely to cause injury to an animal’s body is regarded as physical abuse.

Neglect. Neglect is one of the most common forms of animal cruelty and manifests in the form of failure to provide an animal with the basic needs. An owner of an animal or pet is obliged to provide it with all the necessary basic items, which include food, water, shelter, and medical care among others (Arluke 39). However, in most countries animals are neglected and are subjected to starvation, dehydration, parasite infestations, and derisory shelter during rainy seasons. This amounts to animal abuse since it is the duty of the humans to protect the animals from harm. The problem of animal neglect is compounded by the lack of laws governing the rearing of pets. Most countries across the globe lack legislations compelling pet owners to take good care of their pets. The fact that pets are mostly placed inside the owners’ premises prevents the relevant authorities from detecting abuse directed at pets. Consequently, the pet owners tend to abuse the pets without being noticed.

Sexual Abuse. In the recent past, cases of bestiality have grown tremendously with many people engaging in sexual relations with animals. In most cases, this form of animal abuse occurs among the domestic animals, which live in the owner's homes (Aaltola 177). Such actions amount to rape due to the fact that an animal lacks the ability to give consent for such relations. Drug and substance abuse are some of the factors that have contributed to the rapid growth of the vice as many people who advance such acts do so during their inebriety moments.

Causes of Animal Cruelty

Gaps in Legislations. As it currently stands, most countries around the globe do not have explicit laws prohibiting animal abuse. The lack of such legislations allows people to abuse animals without facing the full force of the law. What complicates the problem further is that even in countries in which such laws exist, they are never reinforced. Besides, there lack strong bodies to conduct investigations into alleged animal abuse, which implies that cases involving animal abuse are never known. The global governments need to launch campaigns against animal cruelty and encourage the entire world to enact laws illegalizing the vice.

Cultural Heritage. The other cause or the rapid growth in animal abuse is cultural heritage. In most countries across the globe, animals are viewed less important and are misused by their owners. Some cultures, especially in the African nations support practices that promote animal abuse. Such practices include bull and cork fighting, which are common in many parts of the globe. The communities that promote such practices perceive them as a source of entertainment. Bull fighting, for example, is legal and is usually held annually in most African countries (Arluke 41). The bulls that participate in the fighting are usually given drugs such as marijuana to make them stronger. Additionally, the animals are subject to physical harm during the fighting. In most cases, the owner of the winning animal usually receives some form of payment and becomes famous in the community. The payment coupled with the positive recognition provides an incentive for the community members to abuse the animals. Given that the laws of a country largely borrow from the local culture and the societal norms, ending such cultural events may be a difficult task.

TV and filmmaking. The use of animals by artists in filmmaking has also contributed to the recent rise in the number of cases involving animal abuse. Artists are increasingly using animal characters in movies and TV shows to make their movies attractive to the audience. The animals used in such shows are often abused since they are forced to do extraordinary things. In the past, animal abuse in movies did not receive much attention from the viewers and the government at large until recently when animals started to die under the hands of artists. In 1939, for example, a film by Jessse James contained a scene in which a horse was seen being pushed off a plunk (Arluke 52). The horse fell into a 40-feet water mass and dies from drowning. Consequently, the American Humane Association (AHA) was created and was charged with the responsibility of monitoring animal abuse in movies. However, the use of animal characters in movies remained legal, which is why many contemporary movies use them. Today, AHA continues to play the oversight role concerning the use of animals in movies. Film producers are obliged to consult with AHA whenever they want to use animal characters. However, though the requirement still stands, most filmmakers ignore it and never consult when shooting films involving animal characters.

Free Trade for Animal Products. Until recently, a large percentage of global trade was made up of animal products, which included animal skins, ivory, and fur among others. The listed animal products were traded freely in many parts of the globe. Given the huge amounts of cash associated with the trade, more investors entered the trade to benefit from the high profits realizable from the trade. Consequently, wild animals were killed in mass numbers to satisfy the high demand for the products. Moreover, killing animals to extract such products is an example of animal abuse. It is only after the world realized the negative effects of killing wild animals that it banned the trade. However, even as the trade is banned, some countries are still advancing it secretly, which makes it challenging in fighting animal abuse. In countries like China, ivory trade is still legal, and the animal products sell at high prices, which offer an incentive for poachers to wrongfully hunt and kill wild animals.

Industrial animal farming. Another factor that has contributed to an increase in the number of cases involving animal abuse is the increasing industrial animal farming. In the recent past, many people have resulted into rearing animals in large scale for business purposes. The high unemployment rates coupled with the high cost of living are attributed to increasing in large-scale farming. The result is that the animals are subjected to harsh conditions, which include congestion and less food for the animals (Armstrong 54). The problem mostly affects poultry, which is reared in small cages that are congested and lack proper ventilation. The placement of the chicken in such cages increases their vulnerability to communicable diseases, which may affect their health. In large-scale farming, the animals must be marked for easy identification. The methods used to mark the animals have been criticized for being punitive to the concerned animals. Such practices include ear tagging, ear notching, dehorning, and tail docking among others.

Consequences of Animal Abuse

One of the negative effects of animal abuse is deteriorated health for the affected animal. In most cases, the animal victims of abuse often exhibit poor physical and mental health. In most cases, such animals tend to exhibit undesirable behaviors such as fear of humans, head bobbing, and other psychological disorders (Haden and Scarpa 29). Additionally, physical torture may result in harm and the loss of body organs, which complicates the health of the concerned animal. All the described harms may result in the death of the affected animal. In the recent past, many species of animals have gone into extinction because of continued animal abuse. It is reported that more than 100 million animals die annually because of abusive human acts. The high number of animal deaths is largely to blame for the fast extinction of many animal species across the world. For a long period, animals have been a source of tourist attraction in many parts of the globe, and their extinction may adversely affect the tourism sector. Many developing countries around the globe rely heavily on the sector, which contributes a huge percentage of their GDPs. If the animal abuse continues, the tourism sector may lose its importance in the future, which may derail the economic convergence between the developing and the developed countries.

Animal abuse is also said to have some negative consequences on the human beings. In the recent past, researchers have established a link between human violence and animal abuse. It is alleged that people who abuse animals are more likely to abuse humans as well. Besides, children who have a tendency to torture and kill animals during their early years are likely to be aggressive during adulthood. The observation explains why most people who abuse animals tend to be violent towards their families. Therefore, animal abuse partly contributes to the escalation of the modern crime, which is characterized by numerous cases of torture, domestic violence, and murder. This underscores the need to formulate the relevant strategies to counter animal violence to mitigate crime.

LAWS BY COUNTRY

In the recent past, most countries have realized the need to protect their animals from human abuse. Consequently, different nations have enacted legislations illegalizing animal cruelty with such laws outlining the punishments for deviance. The laws vary from one country to the other depending on the nature of the problem and the body responsible for enacting the legislations in the concerned country. To understand better the laws in place in different countries, it is important to look at the issue in different countries.

Egypt. Egypt is one of the countries with the clearest laws regarding animal cruelty. The country’s law prohibits the wrongful beating and killing of domestic animals. Consequently, perpetrators of the vice are subject to a jail term or a fine determined by a court of law. The law governing animal treatment in Egypt traces back to the colonial period when the British colonists enacted a law requiring all pet owners to refrain from beating or killing them (Beirne 98). Currently, the law applies to all domestic animals in the country as suggested by the Egyptian government. The law has been instrumental in mitigating animal violence in the country and is used as the foundation for enacting other legislations on animal treatment. In 1997, for example, the government used the law to enforce a ban on bullfighting in the country, which is one of the cruelest forms of animal abuse as it predisposes the animals to the risk of physical harm for personal gains.

South Sudan. Another country with explicit laws governing animal violence is South Sudan. The current laws on animal treatment and abuse explicitly state that anyone convicted for wrong torturing or ill-treats any domestic or world animal is subject to a jail term not exceeding 2 months, a fine or both. The law is meant to bar the citizens from mistreating animals or causing harm to them. As opposed to the laws in other countries that do not explicitly protect animals from neglect, the South Sudan’s legislations acknowledge the evil of the vice. The country’s law states that any person who intentionally subjects an animal to heavy work or neglects it is subject to a jail term of 1 month, a fine or both. Besides, the law attempts to define the components of animal violence by prohibiting the citizens from subjecting animals to work if the animal is not physically fit for the work.

Argentina. Argentina has legislations that prohibit the wrongful abuse of animals. The country's laws spell a jail term of between 1 day and one year for persons found guilty of mistreating animals. The length of time that a person may spend in jail varies from one case to the other depending on the nature of the abuse.

The United Kingdom. The UK also has strict legislations governing the evil of animal abuse against the backdrop of the rapid increase of animal violence. The country’s law on animal violence traces back to the Protection of Animals Act 1911 that was enacted by the House of Commons to protect domestic and wild animals from abuse. The original Act spelled a jail term of up to 6 months with hard and a fine of 25 pounds for persons convicted for stated crime (Armstrong 103). Before the enactment of the Act, most domestic animals including dogs were subjected to heavy tasks, which include pulling carts and delivering milk, bread, fish, and other produce to the market. The heavy work that the animals were subjected to prompted the authorities to enact the legislation to mitigate the animal violence. The enactment of the Act prompted dog owners in the country to kill or abandon their dogs on the grounds of loss of their usefulness. It is estimated that about 150,000 dogs were killed following the enactment of the Act. However, the new legislation increased the overall welfare of the animals in the land and formed the platform on which the contemporary legislations are based. The latest Act to be enacted to protect the welfare of the animals is the Animal Welfare Act of 2006, which is a hybrid of all the laws governing the issue. The Act protects all animals from any form of abuse including neglect and restates the duty of the humans to protect the animals.

Portugal. Portugal is the latest country to show interest in protecting its domestic and wild animals in the backdrop of the growing mistreatments of animals. In 2014, the country adopted legislation requiring the citizens to refrain from causing harm on all kinds of animals. The Act illegalizes mistreatment of animals and spells hefty punishments for people convicted of the stated crime. Starting August 2014, any person found guilty of mistreating an animal would serve a jail term of up to 1 year (Beirne 107). If the mistreatment results in permanent physical harm or the demise of the concerned animals, the perpetrator of the violence the jail term would be up to 2 years. The law gives special attention to pets and bars the citizens from inflicting harm on the pets. Under the law, any person who neglects a pet or any reason would serve a jail term of up to 6 months.

Japan. Japan's laws on animal abuse are one of the most comprehensive ones in the world as evidenced by the strict penalties and the wide scope of its application. The 1973 Welfare and Management of Animals Act that has since been amended twice prohibits the citizens from inflicting any harm on any animal across the country. The Act specifically criminalizes the wrongful hurting or killing of domestic animals without a reasonable cause (Beers 107). The reasonable cause is determined by the court and varies from one case to the other depending on the facts of each case. If a perpetrator is convicted of injuring or killing an animal without reasonable cause, he or she is liable to serve a 1-year jail term with hard labor or pay a fine of 1 million yen. A person convicted of neglecting an animal without reasonable cause, on the other hand, is subject to a fine of five hundred thousand yen. In addition to the stated penalties, the law establishes national and local bodies to oversight the compliance with the animal protection law. Such authorities ensure that pets held by pet shops and other similar businesses are protected from abuse. Additionally, the authorities ensure that only a small number of animals are used for experiments and that such animals are treated with the respect that they deserve.

The United States. The U.S. has strict legislations prohibiting the wrongful abuse of animals. The primary legislation that protects the rights of animals in the US is the Animal Welfare Act of 1996, which prohibits the citizens from inflicting harm on any animal across the country. The Act in its original form was shallow in its scope and protected a small range of animals. However, following constant amendments, the law protects all classes of animals including the domestic and wild animals. However, though the federal law applies universally to all the states, each state has its legislations governing the vice. The sentences spelled by each state vary depending on the state legislations.

China. China is amongst the countries that have been reluctant to embrace the fight against animal cruelty. Until 2006, the country did not have any law explicitly banning animal abuse and the ivory trade (Beirne 76). The lack of such a legislation acted as an incentive for animal abuse in the country with the perpetrators facing no legal action. The laxity of the country to enact animal protection laws has also been attributing to animal violence in other countries since poachers tend to kill and trade the animal products such as ivory freely in China. However, China has in the recent past enacted a series of legislations aimed at protecting the animals from abuse.

Recommendations to End Animal Abuse

One of the ways to end animal violence around the world is by teaching the public about the best ways to handle domestic and wild animals. The government should launch campaigns to enlighten the public about the best ways to handle animals to mitigate mistreatments. Ascione argues that the public usually mistreat animals due to lack of the relevant knowhow concerning the right ways to treat animals (52). In light of the mentioned observation, education about the importance of treating the animals positively is inevitable to promote public awareness. The government in every country should create the relevant authorities and finance their training activities. The training should center on enlightening the public about the rights of the animals and the importance of protecting them. The trainers should cite the benefits accruing from protecting the animals, which include touristic and economic benefits.

Today, most countries in the world heavily rely on tourism to supplement their local revenue collections, which implies that failure to protect the animals may lead to huge loss of income in the long run. Such negative impacts of animal neglect should be cited during the training forums to convince the public to assume the responsibility of protecting the animals. This will ensure that the public refrains from mistreating the animals. Other than the local governments, the global authorities responsible for protecting domestic and wild animals should collaborate with the global governments to facilitate such training. Such organization may achieve the stated goal by promoting tourism activities in each country to show the world that the animals could be a source of entertainment and should be protected. Besides, all pet owners should be trained about the best ways to handle them to mitigate neglect and other forms of animal abuse.

Another tactic for addressing animal abuse is by enacting strict legislations to control the vice. Each nation should enact its laws on a local level outlining the acts that amount into animal violence and the penalties for the wrongful mistreatment of the animals (Beers 123). The bodies responsible for the enforcement of the laws should be compelled to do so to ensure that the evil is fully extirpated. Now, the laws concerning animal exists, but they are never implemented in most cases. The government in each country has the power to make the relevant authorities to enforce certain laws by affording them the necessary resources.

In that regard, each government across the globe should create strong institutions to facilitate the implementation of the laws against animal abuse. In addition to the local laws, the global community should enact legislations to protect animals from abuse. It is important to note that one of the factors that have contributed to the rapid increase in animal violence is the validity of the animal protection laws. In that regard, the world should work towards reconciling the current legislations to create a universal set of laws. The universal laws will eliminate differences in the definition of the term animal abuse and create universal standards for fighting the vice. To ensure that all the countries around the world comply with the legislations, the global community should create institutions to assess compliance for all the member nations. Nations that fail to comply with the said legislations should be heavily punished. Such punishments should come in the form of fines and sanctions for the defying countries.

Next, the global governments should ban trade involving animal products. Currently, the trade for animal skins and fur is legal in most countries, which contribute to mass killings of wild animals. What complicates the problem further is that most countries around the globe are yet to enclose their forests to protect unauthorized access. Consequently, it has become possible for poachers to get to those places and perpetrate animal abuse (Aaltola 172). Killing wildlife for any purpose amounts to animal abuse that is a criminal offense in most countries around the world. To end animal abuse directed at wild animals, the governments should enact legislations illegalizing the trade. All the governments across the globe should be compelled to enact local legislations banning the trade to protect animals from abuse. Although most countries have enacted legislations banning the trade of ivory and similar products, the practice is legal in parts of the globe. The developed countries, who are the major beneficiaries of the trade, are overly reluctant to ban the trade in their countries. This reluctance causes an increase in the poaching activities, which predisposes animals to animal abuse.

Lastly, each country across the globe should enact legislations to regulate animal use in films and movies. In the recent past, the world has experienced an increase in the number of animals being used in movies and films. The artists using animal characters often end up abusing them to make their movies attractive to the audiences. Animal abuse in movies contributes a great percentage of the overall cases of animal abuse across the globe and needs to be stopped. One way to end the abuse is by creating a film regulatory body in each country around the globe to regulate the use of animals in movies. The institution should be given the mandate to ensure that artists who wish to include animal characters meet the requirements for animal protection. As it now stands, most countries lack the relevant film regulatory bodies which increase the chances of animal characters to be subjected to abuse.

Conclusion

Cases of animal abuse continue to rise despite the numerous international laws that aim at protecting the rights of domestic and wild animals. The most common types of animal abuse are physical and sexual abuse. Physical abuse refers to the wrongful act of inflicting harm on an animal and is mostly common among the domestic animals. Physical abuse mostly manifests in the form of torture and wrongfully overworking the concerned animal. On the other hand, Sexual abuse occurs when a person engages in intimate relations with an animal for personal pleasure. In the recent past, sexual abuse directed at animals has increased tremendously, which raises the need for strict laws on animal abuse. The lack of proper skills by the humans on how to bring up their pets has caused an increase in cases of animal abuse. Additionally, drug abuse has also contributed to the rise in animal abuse with some researchers attributing the increased cases of bestiality to alcohol and substance abuse. Most cases involving animal abuse go unreported due to lack of proper coordination between the authorities responsible for regulating the vice. Cases of animal abuse are high in developing countries as compared to the developed countries. Africa is in the lead for cases involving animal abuse apparently due to the reluctance by the native communities to abandon their cultures. Bullfighting, for example, is deeply rooted in the African culture, which implies that it is legal. The fighting bulls are often fed with drugs to stimulate them to fight and win the tournaments. This amounts to animal abuse that is an offense in most jurisdictions.