Animal Cruelty: What It Is and How to Report It

What Is Considered Animal Cruelty?

There is generally thought to be two types of animal cruelty: passive and active.

Passive Cruelty

Passive cruelty occurs when an animal is neglected, rather than being the victim of violent or direct abuse.

An example is the inadequate grooming of a dog, leading to discomfort, matting, or skin conditions. Another is leaving an animal outside, without shelter, to endure extreme weather conditions.

Active Cruelty

Active cruelty occurs when an animal is deliberately abused with the intent of harming that animal; for example, hitting an animal for not obeying a command, or forcing dogs to engage in dogfighting.

Though companion animals often endure cruelty on a daily basis, both passive and active cruelty is rampant in the industries that use animals for food, entertainment, experimentation, fur, and more—as if they are nothing but products.

Types of Animal Cruelty

Testing

Around the world, animals are confined in the barren metal cages of laboratories where they are used in experimentation. Despite overwhelming evidence that it does not reliably prove the safety and efficacy of products for humans, anything from cosmetics to drugs and vaccines are tested on animals.

In fact, in the US alone, over 100 million animals are forced to endure being tested on each year.

On these millions of unwilling subjects—more than 100 million per year in the U.S. alone—products from cosmetics to drugs and vaccines are tested, despite overwhelming evidence that testing on animals does not reliably prove the safety and efficacy of products in humans.

These tests really are an example of animal cruelty. Some animals have substances rubbed onto their skin or chemicals poured directly into their eyes, just so researchers can see if they have a reaction.

Neglect

Domesticated animals, from dogs and cats to sheep and horses, have become dependent upon humans through centuries of breeding. Though it is different from active cruelty, neglect by an animal’s caretaker can result in just as much pain and suffering for that animal.

Neglect occurs when an animal is not provided with some, or any of, the care they need, including veterinary attention, food, water, or shelter.

Human Predation

The predation of animals by other animals in the wild can be heartbreaking for us to witness, but it is natural. It ensures the balance of ecosystems and the health and continuation of species. The predation of animals by humans, however, is far from natural and can cause immense suffering.

Because predation is defined as the killing of an animal for food, the slaughtering of billions of animals for meat makes humans the top predator of animals. Yet, our targeting of other species doesn’t stop there and isn’t always done with the intent of consuming animals, such as fur farming, sport fishing, and sport hunting.

Trophy hunting is also a huge cause of animal cruelty. In 2015, an NBC Bay Area investigation—based on data from the US Fish and Wildlife Service—found that American trophy hunters alone kill more than 70,000 animals every year, and that they had legally imported 1.2 million animal “trophies” back into the country in just 15 years. Trophy hunters turn majestic and sentient wildlife into decorations on the wall, including apex predators such as lions, vital to their ecosystems and the biodiversity they support.

In addition to hunting, millions of animals are killed by government agencies such as the Wildlife Services division of the US Dept. of Agriculture, often in the name of protecting the interests of animal agriculture.

Exploitation

Research has shown time and again that animals are sentient and capable of complex emotions and suffering. Yet humans often ignore this, using animals for our own purposes, no matter the impact on the animal’s welfare.

Though many don’t see the use of animals in entertainment as cruel, confining and exploiting animals in zoos, circuses, aquariums, movies, and other entertainment venues and industries can indeed cause animals to suffer. This confinement denies them the opportunity to engage in natural behaviors or live in their natural environments and social groups. While some are bred in captivity, others are captured from the wild—taken from the families and homes they know.

Abuse

It is heartbreaking to think about, but animal cruelty is startlingly common, especially when you consider the daily abuse of billions of animals raised for food that often goes ignored in conversations about the treatment of animals.

Just how many animals suffer direct and violent acts of abuse—including those raised for food—is largely unmeasured and unknown by the public. For other animals, we do have some reports to which we can turn.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) notes that the animals most commonly abused are dogs, cats, horses, and farmed animals—animals raised for food. Beginning in 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investigation started to track reported cases of animal abuse through its National Incident Based Reporting System and found 3,200 instances of cruelty in 2017 and 1,100 in 2016. Naturally, this does not include abuses that occur by the billions, every day, against animals raised in factory farms for meat, milk, cheese, eggs, and other animal products.

How Common Is Animal Cruelty?

Horse Slaughter

In the US, the killing of horses for meat was outlawed by the Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2006. Yet, the closure of horse meat plants did not save these animals from meeting the same fate in neighboring countries. A loophole allows tens of thousands of horses, still considered livestock under the federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, to be transported over long journeys without food or water as they are brought into Canada and Mexico for slaughter. It is uncertain just how many horses face this grueling end, but most estimates are between 80,000 and 150,000 per year. Even wild horses are not safe.

The thoroughbred horses used in the racing industry fall victim to slaughter, too, when they are no longer considered useful. This is often a surprise to people, who believe that these equine “athletes” are well cared for. In a USA Today story exploring racing’s connection to horse meat, John Holland of the Equine Welfare Alliance said, “The problem is that the entire industry is a conveyor belt for slaughter.”

Canada is one of the world’s biggest suppliers of horse meat—and there are no laws ensuring the welfare of the horses succumbing to this multi-million dollar industry.

Once a horse reaches the slaughterhouse, the suffering continues. The same fight-or-flight instinct in horses that can protect them can also mean their final hours and minutes before slaughter are terrifying. Frantic to escape, horses can kick or rear, making it difficult to stun or kill them painlessly.

Fur Farming

It is estimated that more than 100 million animals are killed for fur each year and most of that fur is produced by fur farms. In the fur industry, animals are specifically bred and raised to be slaughtered not for food but fur clothing.

Some of the most commonly used species are foxes, mink, rabbits, and chinchillas. In some countries, dogs and cats are also farmed for their fur. Investigations have revealed that animals are sometimes electrocuted, gassed, or even skinned alive.

Before they are killed, animals suffer distressing conditions inside fur farms. Animals are typically kept in tiny wire cages, crowded with other animals who may fight or injure themselves due to stress. It is a far cry from the forests and grasslands they used to call home.

Factory Farming

Globally, more than 130 billion animals are killed for food each year. Many of these are confined inside severely crowded and filthy factory farms, never seeing sunlight or experiencing the feeling of walking through a grass field.

It is estimated that over 90% of farmed animals worldwide are raised in these industrial farms, and in the US this is over 99%. And according to the Sentience Institute, virtually all fish farms in the country can be considered factory farms.

Entertainment Animals

Although many animals continue to suffer in zoos and aquariums, public perception of the use of animals for entertainment is changing.

For example, in 2017 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, once America’s largest circus, ended its traveling shows after 146 years, following investigations and protests by animal advocates and organizations. The circus giant cited declining attendance as the reason for shuttering its doors.

SeaWorld too, and other aquariums using whales and dolphins, are seeing a significant change when it comes to views of wild animals used in entertainment. Attendance at SeaWorld took a dive following the release of the powerful documentary, Blackfish.

Breeders

The breeding of animals can cause direct animal cruelty and suffering, such as in puppy mills, where as many dogs as possible are bred and often kept in poor conditions to maximize profits. However, the damage of animal breeding doesn’t stop there. Increasing demand for purebred dogs, cats, and other pets can harm the millions of animals awaiting homes in shelters and rescues.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) estimates that there are 10,000 puppy mills in the US and that 2.6 million puppies, originating from these puppy mills, are sold annually. Sadly, the organization also estimates that 1.5 million dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters every year.

Animal Hoarding

Many people share their homes with companion animals. However, when a person is keeping more animals than they can provide enough care for, it is considered hoarding.

“Animal hoarding is defined by an inability to provide even minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, shelter, and veterinary care—often resulting in animal starvation, illness, and death. In the majority of cases, animal hoarders believe they are helping their animals and deny this inability to provide minimum care,” notes the ASPCA.

Hoarding often does not begin with intentional neglect or cruelty, though the animals suffer all the same, and it can also lead to suffering for the humans involved. According to The Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA), “Most animal hoarders fall victim to their good intentions and end up emotionally overwhelmed, socially isolated, and alienated from family and friends.”

The ADAA estimates that at least 250,000 animals are affected each year, and that “80 percent of animal hoarders have diseased, dying, or dead animals on the premises.”

Animal Fighting

Dogfighting may be the best-known use of animals in fights, but other species fall victim, too. Bullfighting and cockfighting are other examples in which animals are pitted against one another.

Attendees pay to watch the fight, and bets are also often collected, but it is the animals for whom the stakes are highest. They fight to the death in these bloody battles. Survivors can suffer painful wounds, broken bones, and other injuries. Those who survive but can no longer bring in a profit are typically killed.

What Are The Effects of Animal Cruelty?

Cruelty causes emotional suffering, physical pain or illness, and even death for an animal.

This is deeply tragic. And, when we accept the cruel treatment of one animal, it becomes easier to turn an eye when others–across different species—are hurt, too. It becomes even easier to ignore our natural empathy when we read that animals are being abused by the hundreds, millions, and even billions—just as they are in industrial factory farms every day.

The more widespread cruelty is, the more acceptable it can become in our minds. Many meat industry practices are accepted because they occur throughout the industry, such as the debeaking of chickens without anesthesia, or their selective breeding, which causes a number of painful health conditions. But just because it’s a standard practice, it doesn’t mean it’s an okay practice. As Nicholas Kristof aptly wrote in The New York Times, “Torture a single chicken in your backyard, and you risk arrest. Abuse tens of millions of them? Why that’s agribusiness.”

Experts also warn that there are sometimes links between violence towards animals and violence towards humans, including domestic violence. For workers on factory farms and in slaughterhouses, the long hours in dangerous conditions, some of whom are forced to kill as many animals as quickly as they can, takes an emotional as well as a physical toll. They too suffer the trauma of animal cruelty.

Is Animal Cruelty Illegal?

The state of animal welfare policy and legislation in 50 countries can be seen in the Animal Protection Index provided by World Animal Protection. In the US, according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), which ranks US states by animal protection laws, most animal cruelty laws exist on the state level, with some county or local ordinances and a few federal laws in place.

While there has been much progress for animals, with laws passed around the world to protect many species, this has largely been due to pressure from animal advocates and organizations. There is still much work to be done if we are to protect all animals from abuse.

For example, animal cruelty became a federal crime in the US in 2019, with the passing of the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act (PACT), but there are many exceptions allowed by this law. While PACT prohibits cruelty, such as the crushing or drowning of animals, it does not apply to the slaughter of animals for food, leaving many cruel meat industry practices to continue unabated—impacting billions of animals every day.

Also on the books in the US is the federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, which has many shortcomings. Alarmingly, chickens are among the animals not included in protections afforded by this law, even though 99.9 percent of farmed chickens in the US are raised intensively on factory farms.

How to Recognize and Report Animal Cruelty

If you see an animal who you believe is being neglected, mistreated, or directly abused, first look for the contact information of an animal control agency or animal rescue in your area—to report the situation and ask for help.

If you are unable to determine which local entity is responsible for accepting such reports in your community, some national animal protection organizations, such as HSUS or ASPCA, may be able to point you in the right direction.