Dog Abuse: An Argumentative Essay: Unacceptable Dog Abuse?

Unacceptable Dog Abuse: An Argumentative Essay

Walking down the street, a woman sees a pit-bull hunkered under a shrub. She

thought to herself, “I cannot believe how someone could mistreat that poor animal”, while

she walked by on her way home. Later that evening, the woman put on her makeup (safely

tested on animals) and her fox fur coat and left again for a night on the town. The neglect that

was taken out on the dog disgusted the woman, but what she fails to realize is that the

material items she owns also contribute to the abuse of animals. While neglect, owner

inflicted abuse, is frowned upon by society, other types of dog abuse are just ignored and

forgotten about. Dog abuse is still abuse, no matter what form it comes in.

The abuse inflicted on dogs is very traumatizing and can result in the dog’s

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behavior changing. McMillan states in his article, “Behavioral and Psychological

Characteristics of Canine Victims of Abuse”, “Dogs that were victims of abuse showed

behaviors that included fear of their caregiver, depressed, and psychological damage” (108).

Behavior changes due to abuse include, high rates of aggression, fear toward unfamiliar

humans and dogs, hyperactivity, and persistent barking (McMillan 92). These changes in

behaviors can ultimately affect the dog’s potential life after being rescued from abuse.

Abused dogs have a harder time getting placed in new homes. Once rescued from abuse,

dogs are taken to a shelter. The behavior traits a dog has greatly influence its chances of

finding a new home (Protopopova 109). So not only does abuse affect the dog’s mental

behavior, it also affects its chances of living a better life. Creating a law that requires those

owners that abuse and mistreat their dogs to go through psychiatric therapy, will be a way to

help the well-being of future dogs by keeping those previous owners from potentially

abusing them.

Along with owner neglect, society disapproves of using dogs for