Beat Abuse!

Animal abuse is a serious matter that often happens and needs to be put to an end. 21 year old Leo Nopolus was caught on tape abusing his roommate’s cat sometime between October 8^th and October 9^th in Iowa City, Nopolus admitted to police he continually tortured the cat for at least three hours, he did not say the reason for his actions.

I believe that those who perform these acts of cruelty need to pay major repercussions for their actions to keep them from doing something like this ever again in the future. Nopolus was charged with animal torture and aggravated misdemeanor ultimately facing up to two years in jail.

Abuse is a cruel and inhumane way to treat another living creature. Animals suffer with open gashes and wound, being barely being able to move because they have been left alone and abandoned for such a long period of time. Some have been starved of all the nutrients in their bodies.

Physical abuse is not the only form of abuse there is with animals. Neglect to an animal is a very common situation and usually unthought-of of as abuse to most people. Owners move away and realize they can’t take their family pets with, so what do they do? Leave them outside in the yard or in the home, they figure someone will come to take care of them.

These assumptions are wrong and the animals often receive help after it’s too late. They sit outside tied up to fence posts or in cages in the hot scorching sun with no water, no food, no strength to fight off any possible predators, leading ultimately to death and infectious diseases.

After an animal has been abused it leaves a mark on them for a long period of time. Animals stay timid and fearful of anyone who dares to come near them. They also act out in aggressive ways because they feel as if they always have to be trying to defend themselves. In serious cases animals may even go through a similar stage of depression most closely related to what humans go through called “PTSD” Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

When an animal is removed from an abusive home it is usually taken to a humane society. In this housing, they are then taken care of for a short period of time. Registered foster parents for pets can then come and take care of the animals until a new owner adopts the pet. A downfall is that there are not that many foster homes for animals, and then these animals often sleep in cages at the “pound”.

Animals from shelters require a lot of work and attention. They often are coming out of bad homes and need to be retrained. A lot of people don’t have the time or patience to put up with a shelter animal and would rather go to the pet store and buy a new animal with no previous problems. After a certain amount of time, if no adopter comes along, the animals at the shelter are euthanized (put to sleep) because the shelters cannot afford to keep the animals any longer.

Somebody needs to step up and help stop animal abuse because they cannot advocate for themselves. Below I have listed a link regarding Iowa laws against animal abuse, torture and neglect found on the Iowa Gov website.

http://coolice.legis.iowa.gov/cool-ice/default.asp?category=billinfo&service=iowacode&input=717B