Marisa Budlong, am class

Animal cruelty is, and always will be, heartless and nauseating behavior. Hurting an innocent creature is as evil as committing a homicide. Human beings are not superior to any other animal, in fact, we are worse: global warming, atomic bombs, mass slaughter of fish and other animals (that denies non-humans food), and not to mention taking over all non-humans land, which leaves them either crowded into a habitat that is unnatural for them.
We are animals. People say things like, “Don’t treat me like an animal,” or “They were bred like animals,” or calling someone an animal as an insult. So many slurs are names like pig, dog, rat, hog, chicken, or birdbrain. But, what have non-humans done that are so bad we are using their names as insults? The answer is that we think they are inferior; they are no more than the dirt on the floor that deserve no better than what we are doing to them. This is engraved in many peoples’ minds, so that cruelty comes without even thinking about it. Remember, every single creature is the product of evolution; humans just happen to have more advanced brains than other animals, which is why we have come to dominate the world.
What most people do not get is that non-humans have feelings and emotions just as we do. Did you ever wonder why dogs and cats bark and hiss at each other? It isn’t instinct; it’s emotions, which govern such behavior. Cats purr when they are pleased and dogs wag their tail to show they’re happy or excited. Just like we smile when we are happy. It’s a way of showing an emotion.
Recent studies indicate that particularly destructive, harmful people start out, as children, torturing animals, and working their way up the ladder to mass murderers. This illustrates how appalling and dangerous the mistreatment of animals is. Newspapers are stocked with stories on animal cruelty. An example of this has just turned up in the San Francisco Chronicle. Two fifteen year-old girls saw a neighbor’s kitten, poured flammable liquid on it, and set it afire. An eleven year-old boy happened to hear the kitten’s agonizing screams and came to find a blazing kitten. He ran to apartment manager, and they came back and saved the life of this unfortunate soul. The two fifteen year-old girls were later arrested and charged with animal cruelty.
There is hope. People are starting to realize what a horrible thing animal torture is and are starting to fight against it. There is an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee, for elephants that have been abused in circuses and zoos. There are many animal rescue groups forming to protect non-humans from human evils. I hope these things will continue, increase, and cease the disgusting torture of creatures.