Sickening

WARNING! THIS VIDEO CONTAINS SOME LANGUAGE AND DISTURBING IMAGES OF ANIMAL MUTILATION THAT MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME VIEWERS.
(I felt a bit like I was introducing one of those terrifying ghost shows on tv....viewer discretion is advised.)

After watching this video a few things popped into my head like:
HOW IS THIS LEGAL?!
DOES THE GOVERNMENT REALLY KNOW ABOUT IT?!
THESE PEOPLE MUST BE OUT OF THEIR MINDS!!
But one question I found myself asking was:
What sort of heartless beings can stand there and torture and living, breathing animal and feel nothing? No remorse, no pain, no guilt, just nothing.

The scene in the very beginning where the natives are throwing a concrete block at the sea turtles head and laughing about it is what was most disturbing to me. Also, watching them cut off it's limbs while it was still hanging on for dear life. These people are criminals, regardless of their native beliefs, and I really hope that the Australian government pursued this case like they promised to do at the end of the report.

Animal cruelty may be viewed differently around the world but there are just some things that should fall under the category of "cruel and unusual punishments", but for animals. I don't want to step on anyones beliefs or make anyone angry so I am going to attempt to tread lightly here. All I'm saying is that if I were to walk up to anyone on my schools campus (and we have a very diverse campus) and ask them if they think sawing off a sea turtles flippers while its still alive AFTER I've already thrown a concrete block at its head is cruel or not...I am pretty sure you can assume what their answers would be. And hey, maybe one of them won't think it's all that bad but at least we will know to keep and eye on that one or he could become the next serial killer we hear about on the evening news.

Creepy Connections

"According to a 1997 study done by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and Northeastern University, animal abusers are five times more likely to commit violent crimes against people and four times more likely to commit property crimes than are individuals without a history of animal abuse."

Read more: Abuse Connection - The Link Between Animal Cruelty and Interpersonal Violence | Pet-Abuse.Com Animal Cruelty Database http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/abuse_connection.php#ixzz2BPXTIFrv

Okay, first of all, I had heard this claim before. The claim that if you see a little kid stomp on a cats head and laugh and walk away that they are going to grow up to be a serial killer. Now what I didn't know before doing some research is that this claim, this creepy connection, is very, very true.

Plus, wanna know something even creepier?? Look at these phycological definitions I found on the same page as the statement above:

"Abusing an animal is a way for a human to find power/joy/fulfillment through the torture of a victim they know cannot defend itself."

Now break down a human crime, say rape. If we substitute a few pronouns, it's the SAME THING.
"Rape is a way for a human to find power/joy/fulfillment through the torture of a victim they know cannot defend themselves."

Now try it with, say, domestic abuse such as child abuse or spousal abuse:
"Child abuse is a way for a human to find power/joy/fulfillment through the torture of a victim they know cannot defend themselves."

........................AHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Okay, okay back to a more serious note. The similarities between these definitions are chillingly similar and the fact that this hasn't been publicized more is a bit ridiculous! If we had known this back when crazies like Patrick Sherrill, Albert DeSalvo, and Carroll Cole we could've totally seen all their vicious crimes coming and maybe, just maybe, done something to stop it!

Patrick Sherrill killed 14 coworkers at the post office he worked at before shooting and killing himself had a record and a history of stealing the neighbors pets and allowing his dog to attack, mutilate, and kill them while he just watched.

Albert DeSalvo was called the "Boston Strangler". He killed 13 women and also had a history of animal abuse. When he was younger he would trap dogs and cats in crates and shoot arrows into the  crates for fun.

Carroll Cole is in my opinon the most messed up crazy of them all. He was executed for 35 murders and in his past had enjoyed strangling puppies because he claimed it calmed him and made him feel powerful....what the heck?!

All of these mentally deranged killers may have been able to have been stopped if these signs of future abuse had been detected. It's sad really but even more than sad...it's frightening for our future. 

Need Help...Here's Help!

A lot of times people will witness animal cruelty and not even realize it. Or they will realize it but not know what to do about it. OR they will do something about it but go about it the wrong way! (scenarios...gotta love 'em!) Upon my research I came across the American Humane Association's website and within it I found a really cool page that had four different steps to reporting animal abuse. Those four steps are as follows:
1. Evaluate the situation
2. Report animals abuse
3. Understanding the law
4. Help prevent animal abuse
Personally, I think that numbers 2 and 3 should be switched because if a person doesn't first understand the laws about and around animal cruelty then they may go about reporting it wrong and the claim may never get investigated...and we can assume what happens to the animal if the claim never gets investigated.

Evaluating the situation can be tricky. Some key things you can look for are seeing if the animals collar is too tight. That can lead to strangulation. Also, just the appearance of the animal. Is it clean, does it look healthy, does it smell bad? All those are pretty easy to tell from afar. Is the animal constantly whining or growling or really acting strange in any way. Often times behavioral changes result from lack of love, care, and nourishment.

Reporting the abuse is pretty easy. If you have any suspicions you can always call your local animal control department or police department. But don't go around threatening your neighbor of being an animal killer because the one time you looked in the back yard the water bowl was empty. (YAY for more scenarios!) Thank God that society is really starting to recognize violence against animals as the big-scale problem that it is. This makes it easier for witnesses to be taken seriously with claims against people they know and see. Still, the laws vary from state to state so unfortunately we can't just throw them all behind bars or in a cage where they really belong.

Animals Used for (sick) Entertainment

We've all heard of dog fights, chicken fights, and cat fights (no not the ones you see in Mean Girls). The forced fighting between animals in which the vicious owners throw two trained animals into a ring and watch and cheer as they kill each other. The last animals standing "wins". The quotation marks around the word "wins" are just for effect. Yes, technically this animal won the fight but they will most likely die as well due to injuries acquired while fighting. The owner collects his money from all the other sick bastard that get off to watching innocent animals kill each other and goes on his merry way.

But often times what we don't think of is the animal cruelty that goes on behind the scenes. Those fighting animals have to be mad angry somehow...they aren't just born wanting to fight. The owners often use abuse and neglect to harden the animal up. Only feeding it meat and steroids to build its body and kicking and hitting it when it doesn't do what the owner wants it to do. But even scarier is the thought that all this could be happening right under our noses and that we may actually be paying for it to happen. "HOW?!?", you may ask. Well, let me just show you.

http://bit.ly/91rtzQ Click on this little link to see what families around the world pay for and allow to happen. Yes, it's not like we know...BUT NOW WE DO! This is happening in our circus' and petting zoos and we pay for it to continue. It's never going to stop unless we stop supporting it...knowingly and unknowingly.

Cold, Hard Facts

We can't know for sure just how many animals are tested on in laboratories every year because scientists aren't required to report all of the animals they use. The only animals they have to report using are any animal other than mice, rats, and birds. About 90% of animals used for testing, in fact, are mice, rats, and birds. So I ask you, ladies and gentleman: how in the world does this makes sense?! For all we know these scientists could be cutting off mice tails and attaching them to the birds butts for fun on their lunch break. I know we would like to think that the educated and intellectual minds behind creating things we use every day such as makeup and hair care products are generally good people but the truth is we just don't know! But nevertheless my goal here is not to convince you that we need to background check and cross reference our nations laboratory scientists (even though I wouldn't argue with it). My goal is to convince you that animal testing, cruelty, and violence is wrong and inhumane. I hope that my following blog posts will persuade you if you don't already agree with me.

In testing laboratories, small animals, like hamsters, rats, and mice, are usually kept in clear plastic boxes about the size of a children's shoebox. Any animals larger than that are usually kept in boxes that double in size as the animal gets larger. However, the size of the box may seem fitting for one animal but unfortunately on almost every occasion there are at least 3 of the animals in one box. Living in cages and boxes in a HUGE problem for animals like dogs, pigs, and cats. These are very intelligent animals that need love and care to survive. Often times the animals will die before even being experimented on because of unfit living conditions and neglect.

If the animals do live long enough in these terrible conditions they will inevitably be tested on. This research and testing has been documented and reported to be both painful and distressful for the animals and they are almost never given any sort of pain killer or reliever. On top of all that, if by some miracle of God the animal survives the living conditions AND the testing, the animals reaction is documented and then it is euthanized. Once the scientists have their results they have no need for a hurting, mutated animal anymore.

Annotated Bibliography

ASPCA. "11 Facts about Animal Testing." Do Something. Do Something, 23 Apr. 2012. Web. 05 Nov. 2012. <http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-animal-testing>.

This website offers 11 facts about animal testing. These are just as I said, facts, and not opinions. The only place you will find opinions on this page is in the comment section below that readers have left. It mentions statistics on costs the labs spend on acquiring and using animals and the number of animals that labs have reported using in a given year. The list also contains information on how the animals are treated while being held in the labs before being tested on and after they are tested on and the scientists wait on results. Some of these facts and statistics really are shocking and I cannot wait to throw some of these numbers around in one or more of my upcoming blog posts.

PETA. "More Info on Animals Used for Entertainment." Www.peta.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2012. <http://www.peta.org/issues/Animals-In-Entertainment/default2.aspx>.

As opposed to the previous site, this organization is very much opinionated. PETA stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Through this organization you can pledge, donate, and volunteer to help in the fight against animal cruelty. It tells stories of how animals have been abused for the purpose of human entertainment. About how animals are being exploited, beaten, and malnourished in places that humans go to see a show such as the circus. Even something as innocent as a petting zoo can be a harbor for animal cruelty. This site includes a video that PETA recorded while undercover at the circus. I will definitely be including this video in one of my posts just as a behind the scenes look at what can actually happen and often times does actually happen when humans work with animals for the purpose of entertainment.

American Humane Association. "Report Animal Abuse." Report Animal Abuse. AHE, 2011. Web. 01 Nov. 2012. <http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/stop-animal-abuse/report-animal-abuse/>.

This page that I sited leads to four additional pages. These additional pages are articles on how to evaluate, report, understand, and prevent animal abuse. Each article goes into depth and detail about the different signs of animal abuse including how to spot starvation, neglect, and physical abuse. In the next article it describes different tactics used and different place and people you can report the abuse that you've witnessed to. But, as described in the next article, there are legal issues with reporting some abuse. The article talks about the laws against animals violence and how they tend to vary state to state.
Pet-Abuse. "Abuse Connection - The Link Between Animal Cruelty and Interpersonal Violence | Pet-Abuse.Com Animal Cruelty Database." Abuse Connection - The Link Between Animal Cruelty and Interpersonal Violence | Pet-Abuse.Com Animal Cruelty Database. SPCA, 2001. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. <http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/abuse_connection.php>.

This article talks about the link that has been made, the line that has been drawn, connecting violence towards animals to severe crimes such as murder later in the humans life. It give specific examples of cases where convicted murderers and serial killers have admitted to, as children and/or young adults, been harsh, violent, and even lethal towards animals. It breaks a lot of terms, phrases, and statements down to their bare essentials. Things like the phycological explanation for why a person would commit a crime such as rape. Then it compares that definition to the definition of why a person would mutilate or kill an animal. The similarities in the explanations are chillingly similar and this article really persuades that they not be overlooked.

YouTube. Dir. TheLastOutpost. Perf. 7.30 News Cast Undercover Team. Extreme Animal Cruelty in Australia. YouTube, 09 Mar. 2012. Web. 20 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMV8SHQCG9g>.

This video was very disturbing to watch. It is a news report on endangered sea animal cruelty that goes on among the native tribes in Australia. It explains why it is legal for the tribes to do this on their land where compared to any where else on the island it would be punishable by law. The report tells that the only reason the natives are allowed to exhibit such cruelty on and among the animals is because it is "necessary to satisfy their cultural needs". The legislature in Australia didn't want a human equality battle on their hands so they simply just overlook these horrifying acts of cruelty. The report also addresses how tourists and locals respond to the natives hunting and slaughtering of the animals. There have been many confrontations and even fights that have broken out over this controversial issue.

ASPCA. "ASPCA Arrests Queens Woman for Neglecting, Starving Yorkie." ASPCA Blog. ASPCA, 22 Aug. 2012. Web. 19 Oct. 2012. <http://blog.aspca.org/content/aspca-arrests-queens-woman-neglecting-starving-yorkie>.

This is a blog post/article of a story about a woman who was arrested in Queens, New York for neglecting and starving her dog. The dog had been in the custody of the ASPCA for approximately two months before his owner was finally put behind bars. The woman had brought her dog into the shelter and asked them to help claiming to not know how her dog ended up looking like he did, which was pretty out of shape. The shelter took him to the animal hospital where, upon thorough examination, was pronounced emaciated, anemic, suffering from pressure sores, and nonetheless...starved. If and when this woman is convicted of her misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty, she will face a $1000 fine and up to one year in jail. As for her dog, Hershey, he has made a 94% increase in body weight and is almost complete in his recovery. Once completely recovered he will be put up for adoption and hopefully going to a family that will treat him with the love and care that his previous owner did not give him.