How to Stop Animal Cruelty

It happens everyday. Faced with being unable to take care of their pets any longer, seemingly normal people do something unthinkable cruel. They abandon their pets to fend for themselves. I know this from first hand experience, having worked with several animal rescue organizations, and at times the results of this cruelty are so horrid as to make one shiver at the thought of people doing such a thing. I have rescued kittens in plastic bags, puppies on highways, and all manner of other animals who's only sin was to be loved to little.

So what can be done? I would say the first step is to have your pets spayed and neutered. This alone can stop the proliferation of unwanted, and unloved animals left to roam an unkind world. This is only the least you can do however. In every city of every state in the United States exist shelters and organizations for the rescue of abandoned animals, check on No Kill shelters and rescue groups in your area and see if you can get involved. The third thing a caring person should do is reject in all it's forms apathy. If you witness animal abuse, turn the offender in. If you see a car dump an animal get the liscence plate. It is almost everywhere against the law to be cruel to animals, in some places it can even secure jail time.

I remember several of my own experiences as a rescue volunteer, this one happened before my very eyes. I was doing inspections along a river north of a major city that I live near, It was november and the river was ice cold. I remember hearing a small splash and the sound of screeching tires above me along a bridge I was standing near. Then I heard the panicked mewing. Looking into the river I saw a plastic grocery bag slowly sinking into the water, and as I watched my heart jumped into my throat as I saw bag "jump". Looking back on it what I did next was foolish, but stripping off my shirt and shoes I jumped into the river and managed to get to the bag before it sank out of view. Inside was a kitten not more than four weeks old, she was blue around the gums from cold and I thought I was too late to save her.

Getting back to shore I wrapped the little thing in my still dry coat and leaving the jobsite drove to the nearest grocery store. I remember without pride what I said to the poor checkout girl who informed me that I had to have a shirt on and no animals were allowed in the building (if you happen to read this Ms checkout girl I do apologize). I informed her "You are not big enough to physically remove me from this structure, this kitten is dying, I need a few things to save it's life. If you can find someone large enough to remove me before I get those few things then he may attempt to do so." My anger at what I witnessed was aimed at her and I should not have done that. I managed to get some baby food and a lighter and get checked out before said "big enough" person arrived. The kitten survived, thanks to some impromptu warmed food, and is in a good home now, when she was with me I named her Dante, for she had truly been through hell.

Snowball is a beautiful brown tip siamese, and is an example of using the law to punish those who abuse animals. While doing inspections on some downtown apartment buildings I noticed snowball lying on his side with stomach heaving in obvious distress. Part of my job is knowing first aid for poisoning, and I noticed all the signs in him of ingestible poison. I performed first aid on him and set him wrapped in my jacket. I remembered having seen wet cat food placed around every building on the property, I took some and had it tested. It turned up positive for Boric Acid, a common ingestible toxin. When the police searched the leasing office they found cans of cat food and a bucket of Boric Acid. The judge fined the property management company a quarter of a million dollars. Snowball is safe now with a loving family and two more siamese brothers.

The point of the above stories is that I am no one special, yet I made a differance. It is well documented that cruelty to animals is just a step in the pattern of systematic violence that almost always leads to abuse and even killing of human beings. People who can, without conscience, harm another living thing are a danger to society. If you are reading my words today, ask yourself. What can I do to stem the tide of animal cruelty in my community, it will not only make you feel better, it will make your community a better place in which to live.