Have you ever heard of an animal going to an animal shelter to report their abandonment?
Have you ever heard of an animal walking into an animal hospital after being injured?
Have you ever heard of a law enforcement agency responding to a complaint about abuse, neglect, or torture from an animal?
Have you ever heard a defense attorney ask an animal: “Do you recognize your abuser in this court room, and can you point them out?”
Have you ever even seen an animal take the stand?
Have you seen large groups of animals in the streets holdings signs which read: ‘Our Lives Matter’?
Animals get abandoned, starved to death, dragged behind vehicles, drowned alive, buried alive, used in fights, left tethered in cold and hot weather, confined in cages covered in their own urine and feces, burned, shot, punched, stabbed, kicked, set on fire, put in ovens, put in dryers, raped, thrown out of vehicles, mistreated on farms, neglected in zoos, forced to perform in circuses and theme parks, illegally hunted in front of their moms and siblings resulting in families being separated, and much more.
If animals could talk in a court of law, and they could tell us word for word the abuse they suffered, the neglect they experienced, the pain they sustained, would that make a difference?
Would the crime be taken more seriously if the victim testified firsthand?
Animal abusers are entitled to be defended in a court of law despite their crimes.
Their attorneys justify their actions with the most pathetic excuses.
But who speaks for the victims who don’t have a voice?
People involved in animal welfare such as rescue groups, shelters, volunteers, vets, animal control agencies and so on, deal with animal cruelty on a daily basis.
All these people tirelessly work days, nights, on holidays, in cold and hot weather and risk their lives because they have chosen to be on the side of those who do not have a voice and cannot ask for help.
This requires a lot of love, passion, determination, and commitment.
In order to take a case to court, those who investigate farms, labs, and slaughterhouses while undercover, are forced to witness the most horrific scenes just to gather evidence.
Rescue cases require an enormous amount of collaboration between multiple agencies.
In some cases, the community steps in to help out because the situation is so overwhelming.
When animals are removed from a property, they have to be transported to animal hospitals to be examined and treated.
Then, shelters need additional donations and foster homes for the rescued animals.
Many animals are discovered already dead, they die on the way to the hospital, or die days after being rescued without the possibility of a second chance in life!
Sadly, it often happens that when the case is presented before a judge, the abuser is not punished severely enough or not punished at all, and in many cases they abuse again.
Animal abusers are toxic. Toxic people do not change, they only change their victims!
Voice For Us truly believes that judges have a duty to take animal cruelty seriously and send a clear message that animal cruelty is not tolerated.
By handing down lenient sentences, judges are effectively contributing and condoning the abuse and/or the end of a life.
Furthermore, they undermine the efforts of all the people involved to bring the cases to court.
This new appeal from Voice For Us goes out to the District Attorneys.
We know that there are too many judges that animals cannot rely on to get justice, so, please, make sure they can rely on you.
Voice For Us believes that every time a judge does not hand down the maximum sentence allowed by the law, that judge needs to be removed.
Animal abusers need to know that if they hurt an animal, they will pay for it, no matter what the circumstances are.
It would help if part of the sentence required that animal abusers experienced the same suffering they inflicted on their defenseless victims.
Judges, you have the power to be on the voiceless’ side, use it or step down!!!
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
