Why Do People Abuse Animals?

It started last night when I was going through the Newsfeed on Facebook and I saw a post headline and picture about a dog that was abused so badly they said he screamed like a human being when they were approaching him to rescue him. The police officer involved in rescuing him was so moved by this that he has made it his mission to go after the abusers. That is as far as I got. I couldn’t open the post and read it. I was already breaking down. It was the first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning and again I was breaking down.

Most of my posts on Facebook are shared from my blog entries and I know not all of my family & friends are stopping and reading them as they scroll through their Newsfeed. Some people cannot handle seeing or hearing about animal suffering. I am not judging, I get it. I can barely hold it together.

I‘ve seen other images & headlines of elephants on chains, a guy throwing a brick at a dog, a tore up dog from a dogfight. It just goes on and on. Then I start feeling like it is all so overwhelming and I start wondering how I can be making any difference? There are so many animals suffering and I want it all to stop. I wonder if one day this will completely break my spirit.


I debated whether I should put the picture on here because it is so hard to look at. But a picture says a thousand words.

What causes so much cruelty in a person? How can a human being look at a defenseless animal and abuse them without remorse? Did they grow up without any pets in the home, so they just don’t get animals? Did their parents abuse animals or them? Do they have a mental health issue? A power issue?

Maybe Red Rovers Readers Program has got the best animal cruelty prevention tool out there. The Red Rovers Reading Program is where they teach educators how to teach children empathy to animals (and to humans).  Red Rover Readers Program

There is a link between animal violence and human violence, so starting young and teaching children empathy, maybe this will make the most impact and help change the world. I wrote an article last year to my local newspaper for the “Letters to the Editor” section on this topic. Here is some of it:

If you are or aren’t an animal lover, it doesn’t matter when it comes to animal abuse. Studies show that there is a link between animal violence and human violence. Here are some paragraphs taken from some articles on this.

“Several academic studies have found a clear link between animal cruelty during youth and violence against humans as an adult. This link is so well established, profilers routinely use animal cruelty reports in their assessment of the possible threat criminals pose.“ (Taken from the Animal Legal Defense Fund website-article “No Boundaries for Abusers: The Link Between Cruelty to Animals and Violence Toward Humans.” http://www.aldf.org)

Murderers … very often start out by killing and torturing animals as kids,” says Robert K. Ressler, who developed profiles of serial killers for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). (Taken from PETA website article “Animal Abuse and Human Abuse: Partners in Crime.” http://www.peta.org)

“With their limited resources local law enforcement can’t always make animal cruelty incidents a top priority. But perhaps when we look at the connection between animal cruelty and human violence, we would focus more attention on those who abuse animals to prevent them from escalating to crimes against people.”

“This is a serious problem. It is also one that will only get worse if left unchecked. The public should demand that anyone who abuses an animal be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This is not an animal rights issue. It is a way to identify and help those who may one day become a danger to the community at large.” (Taken from the huffingtonpost.com article “Animal Cruelty and Human Violence.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com)

Innocent animals are being beat, tortured, and murdered every day. Turning away will solve nothing. We are the voice for animals! Please support animal protection legislation. Call your US Senators and Representatives at 202-224-3121 and ask them to support and cosponsor animal protection legislation now pending in Congress.

So even though this is heartbreaking, hard to see, hard to hear, and sometimes a lot to bare, I will continue to fight for animals. I cannot turn my back on them. I will keep praying, advocating, and sharing, FOR THEM. But it is you who I will need encouragement from, to help keep me strong and on task. Please let me know I am not alone in this.

One good thing is writing is a release for me, so thank you for visiting my blog. I hope I am helping you in some way and I hope you will help me spread the word.


7 thoughts on “Why Do People Abuse Animals?

  1. IreneDesign2011

    Animal cruelty is terrible. Unfortunately there are souls in our world, as live without any kind of empathy. No one taught them or they don’t care at all. This kind of behavior do often lead to abuse of both animals and humans later in life.


    1. Animals Are Feeling Beings Too Post author

      I certainly think those same thoughts, but hope I wouldn’t do it. We have to be bigger than that person and not treat violence by returning violence. We can get justice for the animals by putting them in jail for what they did. Have you ever heard of ALDF (Animal Legal Defense Fund)? They are lawyers who fight cases of animal abuse to punish animal abusers. Maybe you could check them out. It sounds like you have a heart for protecting and fighting for animals.

      Liked by 1 person




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