Animal Cruelty: Types, Reasons And Ways To Deal With It

Imagine being in a minute cage, feeling restricted, scared, and confused. Imagine feeling immense pain, fear and uncertainty. Imagine yourself in this situation.

Do you ever think about where most eggs come from? Battery hens. Hens that are kept in cramped cages and have nowhere to go. They have to lay there eggs in confined cages! Did that thought ever come across your mind? I feel very strongly towards abolishing animal cruelty and prompting the idea of this as a documentary.

Animal abuse is defined to be deliberately hurting or harming an animal. Each year, more than 100 million animals are killed worldwide for biology lessons, medical training, curiosity-driven experimentation, chemical testing, food, cosmetics testing and intentional abuse. There are many inhumane ways animals are mistreated. There is :

• torture
• confinement and transporting animals in ways that are inappropriate for its welfare
• neglecting an animal
• failing to provide adequate food or water
• failing to provide appropriate treatment for disease or injury
• and failing to provide appropriate living conditions

You may ask yourself why people are cruel to animals. It is quite hard to understand why anyone would want to deliberately hurt an animal. Sometimes it is :

• that people do not understand what they are doing to an animal and that they are causing it pain
• other times, people who have been abused themselves will be cruel to animals because they think it’s the only way to create discipline
• or it could be that someone intentionally hurts them because it causes the animal pain

It is for these reasons that I feel very strongly to make a documentary to try to raise public awareness and to try to change people’s opinions and thoughts on this problem.

In my documentary, I will include interviews with the general public and experts in the field of animal welfare and cruelty, in order to obtain different opinions and points of views.

As a journalist, in my documentary I would provide credible information. I would include experts opinions, statistics and news reports. Recently in the media, there have been several incidents of animal cruelty reports. Here are some examples of recent stories :

• a couple of weeks ago, a man intentionally threw an 8 month old puppy over the fence
• an abandoned dog was found tied up on the side of a busy road
• and a 70 year old, malnourished elephant was forced to perform in a (shri-lanka) Sri Lankan parade

In my documentary, I will include close up shots as this emphasizes individuals emotional state. It allows viewers to gain a deeper insight on the individuals feelings. I will also include the use of sound effects as it helps to express an action, mood or feeling.

There are many ways to reduce animal cruelty and encourage indiviudals to be more humane and compassionate towards animals.

Some ways to do this include :

• reporting animal abuse if you see it
• volunteering to help abused and lost animals
• supporting organisations that promotes kindness to animals, for example, the RSPCA
• and avoiding using products that test on animals