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Stacey Stanton
Mr. Newman
English 101: Rhetoric
8 October 2014
The Seriousness of Animal Abuse
Animal cruelty is the harming or failure to take care of an animal. Animal cruelty is not
limited to just pets, but any animal. Animal cruelty, or abuse, is widely known, and yet little has
been done to stop it. On June 11, 2010 Charles Sieberts article The Animal-Cruelty
Syndrome, appeared The New York Times, and was successful in using pathos and was
generally successful in using logos to show the rising awareness and serious of animal cruelty.
Animal cruelty has been a matter for discussion for some time now. As the economy
worsens, the demands for pets have also decreased. Families that do not have the money or
capability of maintaining an optional family member, eventually result in abusing their pets or
letting them go in the wild to be harmed. Charles Siebert is successful in using pathos when he
describes a case of a pit bull terrier who was doused in gasoline and set on fire for the pure
enjoyment of the owner. This connects on a deep emotional level by all the people who love and
appreciate animals because just the thought of a burning dog running around is heart wrenching
to imagine, and the thought of someone actually doing this with no remorse makes peoples
stomachs turn. For some, accidently stepping on the tail of their fluffy family member fills them
with guilt. In fact, some people are so concerned that they are willing to stay with abusive
partners. Siebert states that In a separate study, a quarter of battered women reported that they
had delayed leaving abusive relationships for the shelter out of fear for the well-being of the

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family pet. This shows how some people are so concerned with their pets well-being that they
are willing to put their own life in danger for the safety concern of their pet.
Charles Siebert was successful in connecting on an emotional level on the topic of animal
abuse and was also generally successful for most of the statistic provided. Siebert explains
throughout his article about how animal cruelty is becoming more known, and more and more
laws are being passed to help limit future animal abuse cases. Before 1990, only six states had
felony provisions in their animal-cruelty laws; now 46 do. This represents the rising awareness
and the attempts to reduce animal abuse cases in the future. Siebert also states, In addition to a
growing sensitivity to the rights of animals, another significant reason for the increased attention
to animal cruelty is a mounting body of evidence about the link between such acts and serious
crimes of more narrowly human concern, including illegal firearms possession, drug trafficking,
gambling, spousal and child abuse, rape and homicide. This demonstrates a majority of the
reasons behind the increased attention towards animal cruelty and why more and more people are
taking actions towards it.
The seriousness of animal cruelty has been in debate for sometime now and has been recognized
more and more as the years go by. Charles Siebert was successful in connecting on an emotional
level and providing statistics to show the rising attention towards animal cruelty and how serious
the topic is.

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Work Cited
Siebert, Charles. "The Animal-Cruelty Syndrome." The New York Times. The New York
Times, 12 June 2010. Web. 07 Oct. 2014.