Attention Animals in New York City: You May Want to Leave
By:Nala Ward
I remember the first time I saved a kitten's life. I was about eight years old and I was riding my bicycle down the block with one of my friends. Then, I suddenly became conscious of the fact that there was an animal in distress. It was crying for help. I rushed over to the garbage cans where I heard the noises, and found a kitten that could not have been more than two weeks old. It was temporarily blinded by the excessive mucus buildup in its eyes. My friend and I hurried back to my house, placing the kitten inside of the bicycle's basket, and gathered items necessary to clean, feed, and comfort the kitten. I am pleased to say that the kitten, given the name "BritKen," is still alive and well today.
Unfortunately, local happily-ever-after stories such as BritKen's are not normally heard of in the New York City area. Animal cruelty, defined as inflicting unnecessary pain on an animal, is still an issue in New York City.
In 2007, there were 1,880 reported cases of animal cruelty, according by the Humane Society. 64.5% of cases involved dogs. In 2010, the Humane Law Enforcement Department of the ASPCA received more than 35,000 calls that led to over 4,100 animal cruelty investigations in New York City. This year so far, the ASPCA has received on average 3,420 calls per month on animal cruelty situations in New York City.
Some people acknowledge that they have been cruel to animals. Jason Addy, a 16-year-old DeWitt Clinton High School student, says, "I've launched, not thrown, tons of rocks at cats." When asked to explain why he decided hurling a rock at a cat was acceptable, he responded, "Because it was prowling and pissing me off. Not to mention the turds it left in my yard. I don't see the big deal."
Mantat Wong, a worker at Animal Haven animal shelter in Manhattan, claims to have come into contact with a puppy who could have possibly suffered from an instance of animal abuse. He says that it appears that "someone tried to cut this puppy's tail off with a pair of scissors."
Some reported cases of animal cruelty this year include an incident that took place recently when 30-year-old Cherika Alvarez from the Bronx was accused of abandoning her one-year-old pit bull Alize in her basement apartment for two years, according to a published report. The dog was found lifeless. Investigators literally had to scrape the dog off of the floor because the body had decomposed so much. In another incident, Nashbert Smith from Staten Island was charged with beating his wife's dog to death because it pooped on the floor, according to the Daily News.
In regards to the prevention of animal cruelty, one step to take would be to "raise awareness," says Sandra DeFeo, Executive Director at the Humane Society of New York. "You want to safeguard animals as much as possible."
