Persons of the world have you ever wondered what the presidential candidates you vote for take is on animal cruelty or bills or acts passing laws for these special household companions. Well since I have been blessed with this information from Presidential Candidates/ Animal Bills about sum of these candidates I will share sum of there takes on animal bills.

“Hillary Clinton:  (NY Senator) Scored 80-100% from 2001-2006.  However, Clinton did not support ban on Canadian seafood to boycott seal hunts.  Clinton invested in cattle futures by making Tyson the nation's biggest butcher of cows, pigs and chickens.  She has also voted for vivisection money.  Clinton owns a chocolate lab named Seamus.  When her husband was President they had a cat named Sox and a dog-named Buddy.  Buddy terrorized Sox and when they left the White House Sox was given away.  Buddy subsequently died.  And we can't forget that in 1997 President Bill Clinton reversed a 1992 law that banned the importation into the US of tuna that wasn't dolphin-safe.”

“Fred Thompson:  (Actor and Former TN Senator) voted against animals in his last year of public office.  He has taken many dollars from vivisecting pharmaceutical companies.”

Hopefully this hyperlink above and the information I have provided you with will help you animal lovers out there make the decision a little easier when picking you presidential candidate. Now you can chose your candidate and will be able to speculate if they also have you pets best interest.

Well I have finally got the ball rolling and no wishes on slowing down the project is coming along. Time management is an issue that is now out the window. The only thing that has been phasing my project now is some of the technical difficulties one of which was a huge problem my computer hardrive crashed. This unexpected phenomenon completely halted my project because I was without my laptop for a week. This made it complicated to add to my project because my files and even some important bookmarks were already saved on my laptop and I had no way to access these essential components of my project.

So far I have had some problems, which include quality or date of information and time management. Mr. Chase giving me sites with more efficient and updated information has solved most of these problems. I think the most effective site you have given me about my topic came from PETA (People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals). Another problem that slowed the process and quality of work was time management, which I take total responsibility for and I am getting on top of that.

PETA (People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals) is another worldwide foundation like the ASPCA that protects the well-being of animals. PETA in fact has special investigators that work undercover for companies that breed animals. These companies have no clue that these investigators are witnessing the wrongdoing that is going on behind closed doors. The most recent case in a two-month study conducted from September 3 to November 2, 2007 a special investigator worked undercover at a Garland, N.C., pig-breeding facility owned by Murphy Family Ventures. This is a company that “supplies pigs to Smithfield Foods, the largest pig-killing corporation in the world.”

 Animal Abuse at Pig-Breeding Facilities announced, “Workers were videotaped dragging injured pigs, sometimes by their snouts, legs, or ears, out of the facility, where they were then killed with a captive-bolt gun.”

“A supervisor was caught on video bragging that he “knocked the sh**” out of pigs and “cut the sh** out of [a pig’s] nose with a f***ing gate rod.” The investigator told the farm manager that animals were being abused at the facility, but the farm manager did nothing to stop his employees’ cruel, illegal behavior. Some pigs suffered from softball-size cysts, oozing sores, and other painful injuries for which they were denied veterinary care.”

 Concluding this I can confidently say the pig-breeding faculty owned by Murphy Family ventures should be ashamed of their inhumane actions. This company not only kills the most pigs of any other corporation, but also does so in a humiliating and brutal fashion. PETA will continue to expose corporations that are committing hideous animal cruelty behind closed doors.

Usually you can count on professional athletes to help worldwide causes that are being publicized and becoming a rapid problem such as animal cruelty. We have Michael Vick, one of the top performing and paid athletes in the National Football League (NFL), who commits a heinous act involving animal cruelty, more specifically domestic dog fighting. Once this situation hit the news, it became huge, and was a scandal that Michael Vick could have avoided.  

“Early reports indicate that Vick was allegedly running a dog-fighting and cockfighting operation from the back of the home. The Virginia Animal Fighting Taskforce was on the scene. Authorities report that Vick had been under investigation for several years for illegal animal fighting.”

Here is a case of a very famous sports athlete who is a role model for many kids. He has now lost total credibility and loyal fans from these actions that could have been avoided. Deadspin Sports states, “Vick was one of the most marketable athletes in sports. Not that we wouldn't buy a ticket to a Vick cockfight . . .” Vick and his four other friends Purnell, Quanis, Tony, and Oscar face criminal felony charges for animal cruelty and could be put behind bars.  Michael Vick has made one bad decision that will change his life, and how people look at him forever especially “animal lovers.”

Connections- Connections

Studies show there are about 60 million families in the United States that have at least one pet. These pets being referred to as companions essentially a member of the family. Basically there are strong studies that show if an animals being abused and there is a child in the household they will likely become subject to the abuse.  Studies conducted show when children abuse pets they are anticipated to commit violent acts in the future.

“There is overwhelming evidence to show that human abusers, murderers or violent criminals began their abuse first with their own pets. This website is designed to help stop these abusers by letting it be known that they exist and should never EVER have another pet again to abuse. The abuser files are a matter of public record and can be viewed by clicking on the underlined words listed throughout this website.”

Inhumane Treatment states “30% of convicted child molesters and 48% of convicted rapists admitted animal cruelty in their childhood.” “In 2000, 7% of animal cruelty cases involved child abuse.  The perpetrators either abused the children or force them to witness the cruelty to animals.  13% of the animal cruelty cases involved domestic abuse.  And 1% of animal cruelty cases involved elder abuse.”

The website I have listed above is a good site for gathering previous studies conducted. These studies are alarming and state plenty of informative facts.

Animals are being abused and treated inhumanly by the hour what do you say “Join The Fight.” It is not as hard as it sounds to slowly but surely reduce animal. When you think of helping to reduce animal cruelty you must think of it on a more local scale rather than nationwide because obviously it would seem like an impossible fate. I know the readers are thinking I want to help the situation but what organizations will support this cause. Luckily Nationwide there are many ASPCA’s (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) at least one per state.

The ASPCA nationwide is one of the most noticed foundations if not the most prestigious foundation when dealing with the cruelty to animals or the betterment of animals. These animals do not only suggest domestic animals but also cover a wide range of animals. “These included horses and other work animals, dogs, cats, pigeons, and any other animal that found itself in the care of—or subject to use by—human beings.” The ASPCA has made huge steps towards reducing animal cruelty and using its authority to prosecute people committing animal abuse.

ASPCA pioneers in animal welfare says, “Today the ASPCA is a nationally influential organization that engages in the direct protection of animals through its shelters and adoption facilities. The ASPCA shelter in Manhattan places, on average, 2,000 animals (about 1,400 cats and 400 dogs) into new homes annually. It also lobbies for animal-protection legislation, promotes humane education, provides grants, and sponsors research on many programs for the prevention of cruelty to animals. The officers of the ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement (HLE) Department make upwards of 75 arrests for animal cruelty each year. They are also the stars of the popular TV reality series Animal Precinct, seen on the Animal Planet station.”

Laws are seldom enforced to their full extent in animal cruelty cases. “It takes the energy and efforts of caring citizens and of groups like the ASPCA to make sure that lawbreakers are prosecuted and animals protected.”

The basic principles of the animals rights movement is that nonhuman animals still have essentially basic needs and interest that deserve specific “recognition, consideration, and protection.” Animal rights suggest that these simple interests give the animals both moral and legal rights.

An Australian philosopher Steven Singer and American philosopher Tom Regan deserve much recognition for try to give animals both moral and legal rights. These philosophers work has not only been inspiring but it has essential in reference with equality between animals and humans. They also created the positive tension concerning the moral rights of animals. Peter Singer who wrote a book called Animal Liberation published in 1972 is considered one of the most powerful pieces of the animal rights movement. This book express the interest of both humans and animals should be given the same opportunity. This does make sense even though animals can’t speak or really express their feeling does not mean that should not get the same fundamental interest as humans would.

Jeremy Bentham who wrote for the rights of animals stated, on Britannica (Animal Rights) “The question is not, Can they reason?, nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?” Given that animals can suffer, Singer argues that humans have a moral obligation to minimize or avoid causing such suffering, just as they have an obligation to minimize or avoid causing the suffering of other humans. I have one question that the world should be faced with; Should animals deserve the same fundamental rights and respect as humans if not more because they can’t really express their feelings?

Pets exist in almost all American families especially households that have at least one school-age child to be more exact about 75% of families with school-age children have at least one pet companion. Often these pets are treated as a child of the parents and rapidly become a big part of the family. So if the children are abused in a family it is very possible that the pets will soon begin to get abused. One reason is because children run to pets for stability, comforting, and they feel safe with them in close proximity.

What the children do not realize is that this excessive bonding with the pets put the pet in danger of being the next victim of abuse. This abuse can come from the abuser of the children or even the child most of the time it will come from the guardian who has abused the child. In some peculiar situations the child might become the abuser because of the enraging anger being built up from getting abused. As I said they like to stay close to the pets but they can snap easily because of their unstable mind set and abuse the pet as well. Connection between Animal and Humans states, “A study conducted in 1995 noted that 32% of the pet-owning victims of domestic abuse reported that one or more of their children had hurt or killed a pet.”

It is key that if you are responding to family violence/abuse to be aware of these connections briefly talked about above. I am not saying you should be an expert on the situation but you should be educated enough about the topic that you know that animals play a huge dynamic in family violence/abuse.

How hard would it be to give animal abuse the attention it deserves? Statistics show that animal abuse can be linked directly to juveniles and women. If you think about since animal abuse is so closely linked to juveniles and women who are abused or have a history of abusing other humans it does not seem that it would be that hard to publicize animal abuse. Here are two incidents of animal abuse one being linked to a female and the other being linked to a male juvenile.

Rebecca M. Byrd of Brunswick, Maine, was charged with beating her two children, breaking nine bones in her 4-month-old daughter’s body, and punching her son’s head. Shortly before her arrest for these crimes, Byrd’s dog was found dead at the end of a chain tied to an oil tank, left to starve to death with no protection from the elements.

Before Rev. Javan M. McBurrows of Pennsylvania was charged with beating to death a 4-year-old boy, he had been found guilty of two counts of cruelty to animals for mistreating two dogs and convicted of choking his wife, who testified that McBurrows had beaten all eight children living in their house. in the back of the house, police found a neglected dog who was confined to a pen, malnourished, and covered with sores.

According to Helping Animals “A 1997 study found that workers in 85 percent of the largest women’s shelters in 48 states had heard reports from women about animal abuse incidents.” Also the same link supports that “A 1995 study of women living in Wisconsin shelters because of domestic abuse found that 80 percent of their batterers had been violent to their animals.

Since abuse whether it be children or adults is commonly in so many studies linked together it would not seem to hard to link some of the domestic animal abuse with a regular abuse case that they see. Yes, humans are the dominant species in this world but does this mean that domestic animal abuse gets about ¼ of the attention that human abuse gets?