Why the abuse?
by Vicki Fragasso
Animal Rights Writer
MaxFund, Dumb Friends League, The Humane Society of Boulder...all
these local animal shelters exist to take care of "unwanted"
pets, mostly dogs and cats. A shelter is run by a group of dedicated
individuals who love animals. A shelter exists largely to combat and compensate for a group of irresponsible, negligent, or abusive individuals.
At MaxFund, a no-kill animal shelter in Denver, many of the dogs have
been abused and display this either emotionally or physically. As you
walk through, you would ask "what kind of a person would pour acid
on a dog?" The answer is, the same person who watched their peers
pour acid on a dog and less obvious the same person who was themselves a
victim of similar horrible, unthinkable acts.
The correlation between the abuse of animals and the abuse of other
human beings is too large to ignore. Jeffrey Dahmer killed neighbors'
pets and impaled a dog's head on a stick. More commonly, studies of
prison inmates reveal that as many as 75% of violent offenders had early
records of animal cruelty.
Knowing this correlation, the question then becomes, "How are we
punishing the people who are convicted of animal cruelty?"
According to the Animal Protection Institute, in Colorado, an animal
is defined as "any living dumb creature." The Colorado statutes give a long list of things which qualify as "cruelty to animals." This includes torture, needless mutilation, needless killing, failure to provide adequate food or shelter appropriate for the species, overwork, overloading, or tormenting of animals.
An aggravated cruelty to animals conviction -- which results when someone knowingly tortures, needlessly kills, or needlessly mutilates an animal -- can carry a fine of
up to $100,000 and possible prison sentence of up to 18 months. A
repeated conviction of animal cruelty faces a fine of up to $100,000 and
imprisonment of up to 3 years. Farming, rodeos and veterinary care are
exempt. In Colorado, law does not require the forfeiture or seizure of
an animal.
In looking over the animal cruelty laws in Colorado and in the other
states and knowing that it has been factually proven that a correlation
exists between animal and human abuse, the laws do not seem tough
enough. The good news is that there are laws that do exist. We can only
hope that they are making an impact on acts of cruelty to animals and to
humans. From the looks on the faces and the wagging tails of the animals
at MaxFund, they are counting on us to make sure this is so.
We are capable of change.
MaxFund
1025 Galapago Street
Denver, CO
303.595.4917
www.maxfund.org
