COMMENTARY | In the Colosseum in Rome they once slaughtered exotic animals for entertainment. We’ve become more civilized since then, but our collective record for protecting animals is far from ideal.
Punishments for animal cruelty and neglect should be harsher across the board, from corporations dealing with circus animals, as covered in a Reuters article about the Ringling Bros. circus, to individuals who mistreat their pets.
A horrifying article in the New York Times reveals a 2006 case of rampant abuse at an Arkansas dog kennel. The punishment for the kennel owner? Only a fine. Critics complain that federal enforcement of existing federal legislation against animal abuse, namely the Animal Welfare Act of 1966, is woefully lax.
My family has always owned pets and treated them with love and care. Domesticated animals that depend on humans for survival should be treated respectfully and, even when raised for food, never abused. Abuse of intelligent animals like whales and circus elephants is particularly appalling, for we do not know how acutely, in their intelligence, they can sense their own mistreatment and deprivation.
Lax enforcement of animal cruelty laws, especially when conviction only results in a fine, is tantamount to saying “we don’t care if you abuse animals.” And abusing animals is not some trivial, bleeding-heart-liberal issue: How we treat animals, especially domesticated animals, reveals volumes about how we would treat each other if we could get away with it.
Animal cruelty is one of the three components of the MacDonald Triad (1963) of behaviors that indicate sadism and propensities to exhibit violence as adults, say Weatherby, Buller, and McGinnis (2009). Those who mistreat animals are more likely to do the same to people if they have the opportunity. Perhaps those who engage in endeavors, legal or illegal, where animals are mistreated may become more likely to behave violently toward other people over time.
You become so used to the acceptability of physically striking something to gain compliance that is becomes your preferred method.
Congress should cook up some effective legislation to reinforce the message that physical abuse should never be anyone’s preferred method. They should have plenty of time to write it up while not working on the economy.