There are some cows in a pasture eating grass happily and napping. There are a couple of horses galloping around nearby in the sunshine. However, that’s not how it always is. Those cows might be forced to their feet with large machines and those horses might be left for dead.  More than 1,000,000 animals are abused each year, and almost no one is doing anything to stop it from happening. Animal abuse is an issue, and this can be proven by showing the ways some cows are treated on farms, the ways animals are neglected by not receiving any food, and the testing of animals at universities and laboratories.  Our animals should not be afraid when they see a human. All animals deserve a safe, caring, and considerate environment to live in. It’s time for people to take this issue into their own hands and prosper the lives of the animals who walk beside us.

Cow Abuse

At the Wiese Brothers Farm in Brown County, Wisconsin, cow abuse is a very prevalent problem.  Ari Solomon, a spokesman for the animal rights group “Mercy For Animals,” stated at a press conference in Milwaukee. “A much-watched undercover video showed sick and injured dairy cows being slapped, poked, and forced to their feet with heavy machinery. Such treatment may not be that unusual, according to farmers and others who this week viewed the video of the Wiese Brothers Farm in Brown County, Wis.” (Mercy For Animals). Before this, Mercy For Animals hired a private investigator to see if the workers on this farm were hurting cows, and after filming this video, we know Mercy For Animals presumed right. Mercy For Animals is now seeking to prosecute the workers, Newsela said. But some other farmers said that these actions were justifiable; according to Paul Rozadowski, a dairy farmer from Stanley, Wis. “There are ways to get a downed cow back on its feet, you can sneak up behind the sick cow, scream at it, and that may scare the animal into getting up.” But it doesn’t always work, and quick action must be taken if the cow is to recover. Rozadowski also said that if you have a downed cow that you can’t get to stand up by scaring it, the muscles in the back of its legs could turn to mush and it might never stand up again. But it was surprising that other farmers such as Rozadowski would support what the Weiss brothers did to the cows, even if he didn’t openly defend the workers. To summarize, the ways that the workers on the Weiss brothers’ farm treated their dairy cows were unacceptable, and it happens in many other farms too. We do need to find a way to stop abusing farm animals.

Horse Neglect             

As the cost of caring for a horse goes up, horse caretakers will leave the horse or set it into the wild, and even if the caretakers call the Department of Animal Welfare, it could be a month before they come. The price for hay had gone up 80% since a recent drought and stable owners such as Joyce Benes, a horse caretaker in Illinois, were having trouble taking care of their horses. This is what The Chicago Tribune wrote about it: “Benes needed help, so she called the Illinois Department of Agriculture, but they didn’t come. “I must’ve jumped up and down for two weeks,” Benes said. “I said, ‘I can’t have you do this. I can’t have you step in when they die. You need to step in now.” What Joyce Benes said shows how many people can’t afford to take care of their horses and other animals, and how many aren’t able to feed them. This causes large stop-ups in the Department of Animal Welfare. For instance, the Chicago Tribune only has five investigators covering animal abuse and neglect in 102 counties so there is bound to be some obturation  (The Chicago Tribune). Tony Pecho, president of Illinois Horse Rescue of Will County, estimates that 35 to 50 abandoned horses are running free near his organization’s base in Beecher, Illinois. This just shows how many people are just letting their horses run free and find food themselves. All in all, the problem of horse neglect is a truly terrible one, and we must find a way to take the price of hay and the price of caring for a horse down, especially in Illinois.

Animal Testing

Animal testing is when scientists or lab workers use animals, (which are defined by the AWA as “any live or dead dog, cat, monkey, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit, or such other warm-blooded animal to test medicines or procedures that may or may not be safe (Newsela) . This can put the animals through pain, or even kill or disable them. But more than half of the population believes that animal testing is okay. According to Newsela, an article platform for students, “Younger Americans are less likely to support animal testing, with only 47 percent of people aged 18 to 34 saying that animal testing is acceptable. In contrast, 60 percent of people aged 35 to 54 and 61 percent of people aged 55 and older say it is OK. ”(Newsela) So, this shows in different generations, people have different opinions on problems like these. Maybe it’s the different way they are raised or that they have lived more life, but this does explain how disputed this topic is. There is also another kind of animal testing. According to Newsela, “Vivisection means to dissect live animals.” Vivisection is used to determine how a body works but most of the time it leaves the vivisected animal dead, which seems very cruel, and not necessary in these modern times when there are other ways we can find out to conclude, animal testing may be disputed, but it is real and we need to take action whether we believe it’s cruel or not. 

Ultimately, you could say that animal abuse is a large problem, which leads to animals dying and people getting hurt, and after reading this you have hopefully realized the circumstances. To be straightforward, we, as a whole, cannot continue to treat cows this way; we cannot continue to leave our horses to die; and we cannot continue to cruelly test animals. It is truly a problem that we must solve. These animals and many of our pets need a break from being treated badly and I believe that if we can all pitch in and help, by doing our part in keeping our pets healthy,  we will no longer need to talk about these things, or fear for the health of animals. But that is your decision to make, you can help or not. And if not, the future might not be so bright.

Works Cited

Chicago Tribune: Chicago news, sports, weather, entertainment – Chicago Tribune, https://www.chicagotribune.com/. Accessed 20 January 2023.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Milwaukee and Wisconsin breaking news and investigations, https://www.jsonline.com/. Accessed 20 January 2023.

ProCon.org – Pros and Cons of 100+ Topics, https://www.procon.org/. Accessed 20 January 2023.

“Instructional Content Platform.” Newsela, https://newsela.com/home/. Accessed 20 January 2023.