What Is Animal Cruelty?

One of the most retched things that occur on this earth is animal cruelty. For those who cannot fathom the reasons why someone would want to hurt an animal, this is indeed a troubling topic. The good news is that the more education a people gets on the subject, the better off the animals will be. In order to do this, one should become familiar with the types of cruelty and what actually constitutes abuse to not only domestic animals, but all animals.

One of the most common types of animal cruelty is that of passive cruelty or cruelty by omission. This is a crime of neglect and does not involve a negative, physical assault to the animal. For animals, this can be a devastating form of cruelty. They can suffer neglect due to parasites, starvation, dehydration and inadequate shelter. This is a serious form of cruelty, which if left unnoticed, can mean a death sentence for the creature.

The opposite of passive cruelty is active cruelty to animals. This is when an individual deliberately and with intent causes physical harm to an animal. Those who display these acts of commission, as they may also be called, usually suffer from severe psychological issues. If a child displays this behavior at any time, then a parent should seek immediate help. These occurrences have been linked to sociopathic behavior and can become worse as the child reaches adult life. As well, this type of cruelty often happens in an abusive home. In a union between humans, often an abusive partner will abuse the family pet for revenge.

No matter what type of animal cruelty that one sees, the thing to remember is to help the animals by getting them out of the abusive situation. Animal cruelty cases, both passive and active, are horrendous crimes that people should try to do everything in their power to stop and control. One thing that individuals can do to help animals is to be active in stopping the violence and cruelty. Education and involvement is the key.