Carlie Valdes

1/6/11

3/4

Persuasive Essay

“The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?" said Jeremy Bentham who was an English philosopher. (quotegarden.com) Imagine being a lonely dog, just rescued from a life on the streets, now in an animal shelter waiting to be adopted. In the mean time, being left in a cage without enough food or water, and sitting in your own feces; not even having someone to toss a ball for you, or take you out on a walk to get some much needed exercise. This is the way some animal shelters treat their creatures. The critters come into the shelters to be treated justly and get the proper love and care they need. A greater number of employees are needed to provide love and attention to the helpless animals and to make sure that they live in a suitable environment. Two simple solutions to this problem are for the shelters to hire employees to come and help take care of the animals or to have whoever is in charge of the rules and regulations of the animal shelters make more specific and less minimal rules to abide by. From a rough history of being deprived and neglected, animals need proper care.

The care of animals in some shelters is unjust. Cages go sullied, and food and water dishes go empty. "Many less fortunate lost or abandoned animals end up in pitiful shelters that are nothing more than shacks without walls or other protection from the elements, where animals are often left to die from exposure, disease, or fights with other animals." (www.peta.org) (PETA is an agency for better treatment of animals.) Certainly, this organization can see that some animal shelters don’t correctly care for their beings. The unsuitable conditions at some rescue shelters are a serious problem because animals have rights and they deserve to be treated with the same kind of respect as humans. One reason that this problem exists is because some people don’t take the time to care about how the animals feel or if they should even bother to clean their cage now or later. However, people have taken this problem into consideration and have come up with another solution on how to solve it.

One solution to make sure these rescued creatures are properly cared for would be for animal shelters to hire sincere employees to provide love, attention, and proper care for them. King County Animal Shelters Executive Ron Sims said, "None of us wants to be cruel to animals. That's just unacceptable," while arguing an outside reviewer’s report of dirty cages, and a lack of food and water at the local animal shelter. (www.seattlepi.com) Obviously, Sims doesn’t want to be cruel to animals and hopes to give them better care in the near future; though, perhaps if the shelter had hired more employees the cages would have been cleaned and the critters’ food and water bowls would have been filled. Some people may argue that there is no need to hire more employees to look after the animals, and that in all shelters the animals are properly taken care of. However, keep in mind the King County outside reviewer’s report of inadmissible living conditions at the nearby rescue center. Not all shelters treat their beings right. This solution to end unfair behavior towards animals in some shelters isn’t the only one that has been concluded.

Another way to end the ill-treatment of animals in shelters would be to have the people, that make the rules and regulations for the enclosures, change the standards and make them less minimal and more specific. “The basis of all animal rights should be the Golden Rule," said Christine Stevens who is a speaker, author, and music therapist. She also said,"We should treat them as we would wish them to treat us, were any other species in our dominant position.” (quotes.ubr.com) Apparently, Christine thinks that animals have rights and should demand to be treated with the same amount of fairness and respect as we humans do. Though, the animals would most likely be treated with care and fairness if the rules were to change. Though, some people may say that there’s no need for the rules to be changed. Still, keeping in mind the outside reviewer’s report of the nearby animal shelter of King County, it is obvious that there is a need for an updated, specific, and just change in the principles for the animals’ sakes. Nevertheless both solutions would be a stupendous start for animal shelters to make large alterations. 

Two easy ways to stop/prevent the mistreatment of animals would be to for the animal housing to hire employees to come and help take care of the animals or to have whoever is in charge of the rules and regulations of the animal shelters to make more specific and less minimal rules to abide by. The unfair treatment of animals in shelters needs to be stopped. One easy solution to ensure that the animals at rescue centers are properly cared for is to hire more employees to properly take care of the helpless creatures. This solution is the best because it is the simplest and is also most logical. How hard is it to find genuine people who would love to care for animals, especially in the current recession, where many people need jobs? This erroneous treatment of animals needs to be stopped for their sake!