Redefining “Animal Cruelty”
It seems that the term “animal cruelty” gets thrown around a lot these days. You will hear or read stories about dogs being beaten, eaten, tortured, and killed for no reason beyond that which gives the abuser some form of perverted amusement. You might shudder at the thought. You might feel bad for the dog — curse his owner even! And as in the case of the picture below, you might also be left with the poignant question “why?”
Suffice to say, it’s easy to detect animal cruelty because we know that in its standard sense, it is the act of inflicting pain and suffering to an animal. This is the tricky part though because our concept of “inflicting pain and suffering to an animal” tends to be limited only to brutality and violence. This, however, is not always the case.
SECTION 6 of the Republic Act No. 8485 or Animal Welfare Act of 1998 states:
“It shall be unlawful for any person to torture any animal, to neglect to provide adequate care, sustenance or shelter, or maltreat any animal or to subject any dog or horse to dogfights or horsefights, kill or cause or procure to be tortured or deprived of adequate care, sustenance or shelter, or maltreat or use the same in research or experiments not expressly authorized by the Committee on Animal Welfare.”
As stipulated in the law, neglect is also a form of animal cruelty. Sadly, it goes unnoticed, not quite as sensationalized as when the topic is about, say, dog meat trade or torture cases. As a result, the general welfare of dogs is compromised by our apathy and reluctance to accept our own accountability as dog owners.
Ergo, animal cruelty can be something that you see everyday — a dog caged for weeks, sometimes months, even years, and not getting a chance to walk outside; a dog tied under the heat of the sun; a dog not being fed regularly; a dog whose coat got so matted because it is not being brushed; a dog whose long nails had already dug into his flesh; a dog with tick infestation; a dog with no vaccines to protect himself against common canine diseases; a sick dog who’s not given proper medical attention; a dog used for profit by puppy millers; the list goes on.
Our conscience dictates that eating, beating, torturing, killing, and hanging dogs to dry on a clothesline constitute animal cruelty — BUT so is neglecting to feed, walk, train, and socialize them. When will you realize it?
LESTRE ZAPANTA 