Introduction
Most of us have or had have a beloved pet that we considered family and would never dare to think about harming (I own 2 cats and if I were to pick up either of them subjected to even the slightest mistreatment I’d be enraged.) Animals, just like you, have feelings, they feel pain, sorrow and even joy, so why are they continually being abused. Although there are several types of animals being abused I’m here to talk about the abuse horses receive, why is it a problem, why people do it and why it is bad.
Idea one
On the daily, countless animals are brought into local animal shelters to be saved from their owners who have either abused or neglected them. Unfortunately, some animals don’t make it, and the ones that do make it are generally permanently traumatised from the abuse. Both abuse and cruelty towards horses is a nationwide problem that is rapidly growing, and it must be stopped. Do you wish that lived in inadequate conditions and were starved or wished to be physically abused for your supposed wrong doing, I assume not? Unfortunately, this happens to a lot of horses. In fact, thousands of Thoroughbreds are bred for racing every year and with the variation from country to country, only 5% to 10% will ever see a racecourse. What happens to the others do you wonder? Well, unless they’re lucky enough to find another career, they are disposed of, typically at a slaughter house. However, 92% of those horses sent to the slaughter horse are indeed consider healthy and capable of living a normal productive life.
Idea two
There are many reasons as to why horses are neglected and abused the main reasons being the perpetrator requires a sense of empowerment which is given through infliction to a horse. Then there is neglect which often starts with the well-known “horse phase” this is where one becomes completely obsessed with the animal and ends up buying one. The neglect sets in once the pleasure starts to become an excessive amount of work for the individual and their dream of being a horse owner is suddenly replaced by the realities of ownership, it has been reported 80% of first time horse owners will sell their horse within 5 years. As well is that there are many cases where the owner genuinely believes they are providing the horses with their essential needs when they truly aren’t.
Idea three
Horse abuse and neglect is without question one of the sickest and most despicable crimes in the world and funnily enough is one of the most preventable. I believe that the abuse and neglect that is being administered today is appalling and it needs to be stopped sooner than later as the effects that it creates on both horses and the perpetrator are long term. Studies state that cruelty towards animals is one of the early indicators that an individual is developing a pattern of seeking power and control as a result this often turns people into offenders. But there are ways we can stop this, firstly we can stop this by way of deterrent and fines to reinforce the fact that abuse is not ok. Secondly, we can simply report any form of cruelty or abuse, this is easily done by calling the SPCA. In case that was not enough we have the government and the public who help fund our organisations such as the SPCA who monitor the treatment of animals in the community.
