Abuse and the Emotional Impacts on Animals
It was around springtime when I came home to find a certain white ball of surprise sitting on my living room floor. The little creature looked at me for only a moment before she quickly hid her face to the floor. I reached over to pet her but she shook uncontrollably. I tried to rub her head gently but she backed away and stared at me with large, dark eyes. I noticed that she walked with her tail between her legs and her head to the floor. When I first saw this animal I assumed she just didn't like me so I headed to my room but she cried. I ran back to her because this was the most unusual sound I had ever heard. I didn't know dogs could actually cry as a human does. So I sat back down on the floor and she hesitantly made her way over to me. She looked sad and as I spoke to her she looked up at me with the same expression. So I tried playing with her but she didn't know how.
Later on I found out that this dog had been brought up in a puppy mill her entire life. She had been abused and pregnant several times. Around humans she was weary and looked at us as though we were the enemy. Her original owners only saw her a worker but treated her as a slave. They had no idea the emotional damage they did to her because to them she was just a dog. I have living proof that animals can feel pain both physical and emotional. The effects are long-lasting because my dog has never forgotten the times she was mistreated.
I had my little bundle of joy for almost six years and gave her the name Princess because she deserved to be treated as one. Despite her abuse, she is a sweetheart and I can't imagine anyone ever hurting her. Even after all this time she still walks with her tail between her legs, her head down, and shakes when others try to touch her. I don't think that she will ever heal from the scars others left in her heart, but I am just hoping this will make others think twice before they hit their animal for doing something wrong. I hope this will make people realize the emotions animals really do hold and how they should be treated like we would treat a human being. These animals are not slaves and what you do and say does have an impact on their lives.
Any abuse causes trauma and suffering. Because of your post, I am enlightened to the idea that there is yet more to discover in the similarities of humans and animals. The trauma caused by abuse is devastatingly long-term, where the being is unable to regain normalities as quickly as those who never experienced abuse.
ReplyDeleteThis similarity however, does not specifically portray the animal as a human being, and must be treated as if they are a human being. I believe the idea is the equality in treatment, which we Americans have fought and deem loyal to in our Fourteenth Amendment. We want to give animals their rights as animals, just the same as we want each person, no matter what ethnicity they may be, to have the same rights. This striving for equality is not pertaining to the similarities, but it is in respect of our differences.
First of all let me say I am not an animal person. Especially when it comes to cats and dogs. But when I was reading this I couldn't help but think how awful and cruel humans can be to animals. No living thing on this earth should be treated the way Princess was treated. How people even have the heart to treat animals like they have no emotions and feel no pain is crazy. I believe that animals do have emotions and can remember the horrible things that they have been put through. Instead of treating your dog like a princess and giving her all the care and love in the world they hurt her and used her like nothing. That's awful.
ReplyDeleteThis a way where animal cruelty comes into someone's home and into the light. If you had never had this dog you wouldn't have had this personal experience with puppy mills because most people don't know about what happens in the world until they have to think or they talk about it. I never even knew about puppy mills until this assignment and I'm not afraid to admit this. The idea of puppy mills never crossed my mind because I had never seen or heard about it. You also get to see how this experience has affected your dog but with the love you give her you make her past life a thing of the past.
ReplyDeleteWhen i was reading this I couldn't believe that this actually happened to your puppy. I can't believe it happens to puppies all over the place. When people are exposed for doing this and the animals are released the person gets their justice but the animal still goes through the trauma and thats not fair. When we talk about animal rights its not just about the animals that are in the labs or zoos. The animals don't have to be exotic. We need to focus on all animals from rats to a great blue whale. All of them should be treated equal.
ReplyDelete