Sunday, October 2, 2011

Domestic Violence Affects Animals Too

Some of you may watch Animal Cops or other TV shows that illustrate the scope of the problem with animal abuse and neglect. It's frankly unbelievable to many of us what can happen to an abandoned or abused animal and yet, organizations like the MSPCA encounter domestic violence and neglect cases every day. These sad circumstances occur close to home: We visited the Friends of Falmouth Dogs program and facility last weekend and learned that one of the dogs available for adoption was virtually abandoned by a divorcing couple who moved away but left their pet in the house with the arrangement that someone would come by to feed her twice day. Not the situation we would want for this lovely playful girl but luckily the caregiver surrendered her to Friends of Falmouth Dogs where she gets great care and is now available for adoption to her forever home.

You expect that animals will get a fair chance in the United States where we have minimum standards for animal care and laws to back them up, but conditions are worse in the developing world. You may know that some of us at Aussie Pet Mobile Cape Cod lived and worked in India for a year. During our time there made friends with a local shop keeper who had two wonderful pet dogs - a relatively rare occurrence in rural India where only the most affluent can afford to feed an additional mouth, much less two. Our featured photo is of Amar with his two beloved pets. One day in June of 2010 we found Amar at his shop in tears. His beloved dog Mochi had been brutally killed the night before, just outside his home, while Mochi was stretching his legs before bed. There is no recourse in rural India for such a crime against nature, but here in the US you can Take Action to improve the conditions for animal welfare.

Please visit the MSPCA Government Affairs page and click Take Action to protect all victims of domestic violence.

No comments:

Post a Comment