What Is Animal Cruelty (And How to Report It)

According to Shelter Animals Count, each year in the United States, an estimated 10 million animals die from abuse or cruelty. But this is just an estimate, given that less than 0.01 percent of animal abuse cases are actually reported annually. 

Although some legislation is in place to protect animals — Maine, Illinois, Oregon, Colorado, and Rhode Island rank are the states with the best protection laws — we often rely on activists to fill in the many gaps where the system can fail. (In case you’re curious, New Mexico, Mississippi, Alabama, Idaho, and Utah are currently the top 5 states with the worst animal protection laws.)

Shelters, rescues, and welfare organizations often have programs to help animals suffering from abuse, neglect, or inadequate care. These organizations can offer assistance, resources, and education for pet parents. They can also begin removing a pet from a home, if intentional abuse occurs, or if the guardian is unwilling to work through an animal welfare issue. 

Petitioning, boycotting, awareness-raising, and protesting are additional methods people use to thwart animal cruelty — especially by companies. Read on to learn more about animal cruelty, and how you can help stop it. 

What is considered animal abuse?

While laws vary on the definition, animal cruelty is characterized broadly as either the neglect or physical abuse of animals. This can include:

• Failing to provide them with adequate food, water, and shelter

• Abandoning them 

• Physically punishing them

• Maiming them

• Torturing them

• Killing them

• Keeping them in inhumane living conditions

• Overworking them

• Forcing them to fight

• Having them live in hoarding situations

Animal cruelty laws

Laws to prevent cruelty against animals exist at federal and state levels. While some prohibit specific acts, many of them contain wording that is vague and open to broad interpretation. This allows people to exploit animals by forcing them to live in extremely distressing environments, such as in factory farms, roadside zoos, and research facilities. 

Federal animal cruelty laws

On a national level, there are a few core animal anti-cruelty laws, including:

• The Animal Welfare Act (AWA): Enacted in 1966 by the United States Department of Agriculture, the AWA regulates the treatment of, and sets minimum standards of care for, animals bred and used in research, commercial transport and sale, and public exhibition. Species protected by the AWA include dogs, cats, nonhuman primates, marine mammals, captive wildlife, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, and domestic livestock used in nonagricultural research and teaching.

• The Horse Protection Act (HPA): Enacted by the USDA in 1970, the HPA bans soring horses. This practice involves using chemicals and mechanical methods to cause pain to a horse’s hooves or legs, forcing them to have an exaggerated gait for show. 

• The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act: Enacted in 2019, PACT federally prohibits the creation and distribution of videos depicting animal torture. This includes the intentional burning, crushing, drowning, suffocating, impaling, and other acts of serious bodily injury.

State animal cruelty laws

In addition to federal laws, there are anti-cruelty laws and ordinances on the state and local levels. Texas, for example, separates its laws into two broad sections: one pertaining to cruelty to livestock animals, and another for cruelty to non-livestock animals. These laws outline prohibited practices such as overworking, fighting, and failing to provide adequate care. California has several anti-cruelty laws, mostly found within California Penal Code 597. This code covers broad practices and prohibitions, from the treatment of livestock and companion animals to banning the use of exotic animals in circuses.

Ways to prevent animal cruelty

So, how do we stop animal cruelty? Preventing and intervening in these acts requires an understanding of root causes, individual and organizational action, resource assistance, rescue and sheltering, public engagement, campaigning, and community support. 

1. Educate yourself about animal welfare

The first step is to learn about animal welfare and what various groups are doing to address cruelty. A holistic approach considers the well-being of the whole animal — physical, mental, and emotional. 

A current model of animal welfare, sometimes referred to as “A Life Worth Living” — as noted in a 2015 study published in the journal Animals — moves beyond alleviating pain and suffering, and providing basic care. This model pushes for standards that ensure animals under human care are actually thriving and living enriched lives that meet not only basic care requirements but also their species-specific social, enrichment, and environmental needs. 

For example, a dog who is left alone all day, every day (or each night) is probably not living their best life, even if their basic needs for food, water, and shelter are being met. In this instance, there are a few options for improving the dog’s welfare and quality of life: taking them to doggy daycare, hiring a dog walker or pet sitter, installing a doggy door, adopting a canine companion if they enjoy the company of other pups, and coming home for lunch breaks. 

2. Support animal shelters and rescue organizations

Animal shelters, rescue organizations, and animal welfare groups are often at the frontlines of the fight against animal cruelty. You can support these organizations through donations, volunteering, and adopting their animals. 

Many animal welfare groups rely on grants and donations to care for their animals and also offer a range of programs that can improve the lives of pets in their communities. These programs can address animal welfare issues by showing compassion and empathy towards both pets and their pet parents.

Below are a few incredible groups working to address animal welfare issues through community outreach and assistance.

• Downtown Dog Rescue

Since 1996, Downtown Dog Rescue (DDR) has worked across Los Angeles to assist thousands of pets and their families. Their programs include reducing shelter intake by helping pets stay with their families, offering free-to-low-cost spaying/neutering and vaccinations, hosting pet clinics, giving out monthly pet food and other supplies, and providing deworming medicine and other health care. They also provide street outreach to help unhoused people with their pets. 

Of their street-outreach project, DDR says, “Our team has focused on increasing access to veterinary care and providing pet support and resources for unhoused individuals and families with pets living on the street, in vehicles, and in shelters. Our dedicated outreach team meets people where they are at, to decrease barriers of properly caring for their pet.” 

• ChainFree Knoxville

Formed in the summer of 2021 as a response to the mistreatment of dogs chained throughout Knoxville, Tennessee, ChainFree Knoxville has since built more than 100 fences in their community. Chained dogs can bark excessively due to stress and boredom, which may lead to neighborhood conflict and even evictions. By building fences for these dogs, ChainFree Knoxville greatly improves the quality of both canine lives and community relations. The group also provides bedding and dog houses, enrichment supplies, basic medicine and preventatives, as well as spay/neuter and educational services.

3. Advocate for animal rights and protections

Advocates for animal rights work year-round to create a kinder, more ethical world by strengthening the protection of animals. 

You can help with this struggle in a myriad of ways: joining specific campaigns, protesting the cruel treatment of animals, boycotting companies that don’t provide animals with a good quality of life, circulating awareness petitions, contributing to public education initiatives, and documenting cruel practices. 

In case you have any doubts, this activism does work. Recent animal protection successes in the U.S. include:

• Ending of the orca-breeding programs at SeaWorld.

• Transition to animal-free entertainment in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Circus Vargas, and Circus Vazquez, and an increased trend of banning the use of exotic animals in circuses by states and local municipalities.

• The shutdown of several roadside zoos including Cricket Hollow Zoo, Deer Haven Mini Zoo, Wilson’s Wild Animal Park, and Animaland.

• A growing number of U.S. cities banning or restricting the tethering of dogs, including: Knoxville and Johnson City (both in Tennessee), as well as Athens and Huntsville (both in Alabama).

Report suspected cases of animal cruelty

If you think someone you know is abusing or neglecting an animal, or you have witnessed that abuse yourself, you should report your suspicions to the appropriate enforcement authorities. You can contact a local animal shelter, rescue, animal welfare organization, or vet office for assistance — and remain anonymous if you choose.

Many times, with compassionate support, a pet parent or animal caretaker can remedy the animal welfare issue, with the pet parent emerging better educated about their pet’s needs. (They may also choose to relinquish an animal to the rescue group.) But if a person is harming animals intentionally, these organizations can begin the steps necessary to remove and rescue the animal. If you’re unsure of who to contact, visit the National Link Coalition, which can help you find the current procedures for reporting in your state and/or local community.

Signs of animal cruelty or neglect can include:

• Lack of adequate shelter 

• No food or water

• Extreme thinness 

• An embedded collar

• Extreme matting of fur or overgrown nails

• Signs of dogfighting (such as dogs on heavy chains with noticeable scars)

• An animal confined in a space, covered in waste 

• Physical abuse

Commonly asked questions

How do I report animal cruelty online?

You can report animal cruelty online by contacting animal rights organizations such as your closest branch of the SPCA or Humane Society. You can also send a tip to the news media if you are exposing corporate animal cruelty. 

How do I report animal neglect anonymously?

You can report animal neglect anonymously to animal welfare organizations and explain that, for your safety, you need to stay anonymous.

What if I have a concern about my local shelter or rescue?

If you have a concern about your local shelter or rescue, it’s important to have as much information about the organization and what concerns you as possible, according to the Humane Society of the United States. This may involve connecting with the organization and expressing that concern or asking to learn more about your concern.

If that’s not possible, or connecting with them does not resolve your concern, you can reach out to the organization’s board of directors, which is typically listed on the organization’s website, or contact a municipal agency that oversees the organization.

References

11 Signs of Animal Cruelty and How You Can Help

California Legislative Information

ChainFree Knoxville

Downtown Dog Rescue

Updating Animal Welfare Thinking: Moving Beyond the “Five Freedoms” Towards “A Life Worth Living”