an animal is abused every 10 seconds in this country. That’s a lot of abuse and one of the reasons animal abuse stories are so prevalent these days. No matter what day or where you look, someone, somewhere in the country has done something heinous to a pet. Most abuse and neglect is unintentional and committed by people who are ignorant about the proper way to care for a pet. They may leave the pet outside all the time, fail to provide proper shelter, food and water, or neglect the pet’s social needs, like interaction with people and playtime altogether. These people need education and visits from animal control to learn how to better care for their pets. Some neglect is intentional, which means people intentionally do nothing to help their pet thrive. Their pet’s collar may be too tight. Their pet may appear malnourished, suffer form hair loss or mange, have a matted coat, or appear to be living in a very filthy living environment. These people need a visit from animal control and in most cases, their pet needs to be removed from the home because the people have no empathy for the pet’s needs. They also need to be charged with animal cruelty or neglect. Intentional abuse goes even further. Rather than ignore an animal and leave it to suffer, these people commit deliberate acts of cruelty that may include physically abusing, maiming, torturing or killing an animal. Not only do the animals need to be removed from the home, but these people should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. There are too many links between people who commit heinous crimes against animals and people who go on to commit crimes against people to allow these crimes to go unpunished. people need to see that animal cruelty is a people problem and the only way to help get it better is punishment more severe for all ages please help make a difference.