animal precinct

as a lover of animals, i quite frequently watch animal planet and i often find myself watching the vast array of animal cop shows that deal with animal abuse.

one of the things that i have noticed from watching these shows is the severe lack of justice for the animals that are abused.

one instance that i watched today in fact, featured a pitbull who the people at the Arizona humane society named Lewis. Lewis was hog-tied, severely beaten, thrown into a dustbin, closed in there and then placed in an alleyway bin. Left there to die.

What's even more incredulous than the sheer brutality of Lewis's abuse, is the fact that the person who inflicted such abuse was never found, and thus never convicted.

And worse than that, is the fact that even when they know the people who have caused the animals pain and trauma, and even when they send them to court, and even when the animals have to be put down as a result of the abuse they suffered, what punishment do the people receive?

a $400 fine. a week in jail. a month's community service.

How is it in any way justice for the crimes that they have committed?

Why is it that our justice system for humans is so different from our justice system for animals?

If the sort of crime that had happened to Lewis had happened to a human; an adult or even a child, the law enforcement would be using leagues of crime scene investigators and detectives in order to try and find the culprit and when found, they would be serving a lot more than one week in jail.

I understand that due to the fact that we are one of the only "animals" on the Earth with sentient abilities and because we are certainly the most sophisticated and evolved animals on the planet may mean that we feel as if we are "above" all the other creatures and that we rule this planet over them, but surely, since we are so civilised and so highly sophisticated we would be able to put aside our narcissistic customs and serve equal justice for all crimes of that manner.

i just don't know how we can call ourselves civilised if we allow our people to treat seemingly "inferior" animals like that, with little consequence.

the other thing that baffles me, is that we hold quite severe punishment for people who poach in Africa and for people who sell animals parts on the black market, yet when it comes to domesticated animals, the level of importance seems to drop quite exponentially. Why?

perhaps because we have made domesticated animals, as they are, domesticated, we have little respect for them because they are not wild, they do not surpass us in any way and they have been changed to suit us and therefore we see them as even less important than or 'dignified' than the animals that still put up a 'fight' and that still have their primal instincts in full swing.

and i think that's particular poignant too. by making dogs and cats domestic as well as horses and other pets, we have stripped them of their fighting nature, their protective instincts and have left them at the will of man, defenseless. that should give us even more incentive to protect them. it was us that made them so powerless. we did that to them. making any action of abuse purely unexplainable. inexcusable.

Justice?  my ass.