UT Essay: Choose an issue of importance to you-the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope-and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation.
Early mornings start when I emerge from my shower. Without fail every morning when the water from the shower is shut off my cat Remmy charges for the bathroom door. Before I can get both feet on the floor my very boisterous cat is jamming his fluffy white paws as far under the door as he can reach, howling the entire time. Then once I open the door to let him wander in to the bathroom he strolls in acting nonchalant as if he wasn't just acting like he was having a panic attack. Why anyone would every want to hurt my cat or any other animal is beyond me. I am one of sixty million households in the United States that have a companion pet. When you imagen a companion pet you may think of a puppy or kitten brought into a house for a child or adult to love and take care of. You may even picture a little girl carrying around her cat or dressing it up in doll clothes then pushing it around in a stroller, which is one thing I enjoyed doing during my childhood. Though what people do not think of is a 17-year-old girl pleading guilty to baking her former roommate's cat to death in a 500° oven. 1 Animal brutality takes place everyday, committed by a range a different people, but nothing makes it right. Whether it is a violent hand or a well intentioned hand, I believe any animal put to death is a wrongful death.
Neglected, stabbed, beaten and abused, mans best friend has become mans best victim. In 2008 a reported 5,617 animals died from abuse or neglect in the United States alone. 2 When people find themselves unable to take care of their animals they often abandon them, possibly thinking someone else will find and take care of the animal. When I adopted my cat I learned their owner moved away locking them in the house with out any food or water when he was a baby. I can not imagine how someone could abandon such a loving animal. One case of abandonment happened in Roanoke, where Police are looking for the person who left a puppy in a cage on the side of a road. When help finally came the puppy was found lying motionless on a pillow in the cage. Police say the dog died from the sweltering heat. 3 You can't say for certain whether the person left the puppy with intentions of it dying, but there are some people who in fact, intentionally, harm animals. In Houston Deputies are looking for the person responsible for decapitating a tame deer at a wildlife sanctuary at Bear Creek Park. 4 It is pointless and cruel cases like these flood the ASPCA (American Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals) offices around the country daily. Though, cruelty doesn't seem to be a word that comes up when talking about humane euthanasia.
It is widely accepted that 9.6 million animals are euthanized annually in the United States every year. 5 These euthanasia victims are due to over crowding, though some may argue that with the 6 billion people and growing, maybe animals aren't the ones who are over crowding. It is hard to come up with a really a good reason why we don't have the necessary means to find foster homes for these over abundant animals. Another reason animals are euthanized is because of illness that occurred before or during their time at a shelter. Though as a living creature aren't our bodies susceptible to disease, and illness? When a member of our family becomes ill we do not discard them, we take care of them. We pay more months of hospital bills, even if it takes years for a member of our family to get better, we don't leave them. I am sure if animals could talk they would tell you they want to live. Animals don't want to be euthanized because they are sick or have a broken leg. If people can live through cancer why can't our pets? We should be the ones to pass judgment on whether an animal is well enough to live or not.
Animal cruelty is bound to happen. With further knowledge and understanding I hope to be able to educate people on the prevention of animal abuse and neglect. One of the things I have done is sign a petition for the World Society for the Protection of Animals. With my vote I am telling the Government that animals matter to me, because when it comes to having a central nervous system, and the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. 6 After all this world is not always black and white, sometimes we have to step back and see things from a different point of view, even a point of view that can not be spoken.
Early mornings start when I emerge from my shower. Without fail every morning when the water from the shower is shut off my cat Remmy charges for the bathroom door. Before I can get both feet on the floor my very boisterous cat is jamming his fluffy white paws as far under the door as he can reach, howling the entire time. Then once I open the door to let him wander in to the bathroom he strolls in acting nonchalant as if he wasn't just acting like he was having a panic attack. Why anyone would every want to hurt my cat or any other animal is beyond me. I am one of sixty million households in the United States that have a companion pet. When you imagen a companion pet you may think of a puppy or kitten brought into a house for a child or adult to love and take care of. You may even picture a little girl carrying around her cat or dressing it up in doll clothes then pushing it around in a stroller, which is one thing I enjoyed doing during my childhood. Though what people do not think of is a 17-year-old girl pleading guilty to baking her former roommate's cat to death in a 500° oven. 1 Animal brutality takes place everyday, committed by a range a different people, but nothing makes it right. Whether it is a violent hand or a well intentioned hand, I believe any animal put to death is a wrongful death.
Neglected, stabbed, beaten and abused, mans best friend has become mans best victim. In 2008 a reported 5,617 animals died from abuse or neglect in the United States alone. 2 When people find themselves unable to take care of their animals they often abandon them, possibly thinking someone else will find and take care of the animal. When I adopted my cat I learned their owner moved away locking them in the house with out any food or water when he was a baby. I can not imagine how someone could abandon such a loving animal. One case of abandonment happened in Roanoke, where Police are looking for the person who left a puppy in a cage on the side of a road. When help finally came the puppy was found lying motionless on a pillow in the cage. Police say the dog died from the sweltering heat. 3 You can't say for certain whether the person left the puppy with intentions of it dying, but there are some people who in fact, intentionally, harm animals. In Houston Deputies are looking for the person responsible for decapitating a tame deer at a wildlife sanctuary at Bear Creek Park. 4 It is pointless and cruel cases like these flood the ASPCA (American Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals) offices around the country daily. Though, cruelty doesn't seem to be a word that comes up when talking about humane euthanasia.
It is widely accepted that 9.6 million animals are euthanized annually in the United States every year. 5 These euthanasia victims are due to over crowding, though some may argue that with the 6 billion people and growing, maybe animals aren't the ones who are over crowding. It is hard to come up with a really a good reason why we don't have the necessary means to find foster homes for these over abundant animals. Another reason animals are euthanized is because of illness that occurred before or during their time at a shelter. Though as a living creature aren't our bodies susceptible to disease, and illness? When a member of our family becomes ill we do not discard them, we take care of them. We pay more months of hospital bills, even if it takes years for a member of our family to get better, we don't leave them. I am sure if animals could talk they would tell you they want to live. Animals don't want to be euthanized because they are sick or have a broken leg. If people can live through cancer why can't our pets? We should be the ones to pass judgment on whether an animal is well enough to live or not.
Animal cruelty is bound to happen. With further knowledge and understanding I hope to be able to educate people on the prevention of animal abuse and neglect. One of the things I have done is sign a petition for the World Society for the Protection of Animals. With my vote I am telling the Government that animals matter to me, because when it comes to having a central nervous system, and the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. 6 After all this world is not always black and white, sometimes we have to step back and see things from a different point of view, even a point of view that can not be spoken.
