Animal Abuse is one of the most disgusting acts in the world. Helpless animals all over the world are suffering at the hands of people and advocates such as World Animal Protection International, Animal Defense League, ASPCA, Animal Equality, to name a few, have been trying to put a stop to this for years.

Recent abuse at Yancheng Safari Park

In a truly disgusting act, a live donkey was thrown into a tiger pit at Yancheng Safari Park a couple of days ago. This horrendous act was carried out by zoo shareholders as they were felt they needed to be cutting costs at the zoo.

The donkey was thrown into the pit following a security guard trying to stop the shareholders from taking away animals at the zoo. Reports have released statements saying that it took a half an hour for the donkey to finally die.

This act was committed in front of the public at the Safari Park and is a prime example of animals' rights being violated. Animals have the right to possession of their own lives. This event was one of great suffering. It is not uncommon in Chinese Zoos for the animals to be abused. Back in 2017 a video was released which showed tigers being whipped by staff because they were not performing tricks. This kind of behavior is driven by money mongers and it must be stopped!

The confusion about animal rights and what they mean

Animal rights are not something people are educated about on a basic level. Children are expected to learn how to treat animal kind through their parents. However, this is a sure fire way of continuing the abusive behavior as this kind of learning may not occur or may be taught incorrectly.

So what are the rights that animals do have?

Well it is not that far from the rights that people have. They have the rights to possess their own lives, co-exist on the world, to be treated with respect and not to be exploited or used. They have the rights to live in a place suited to their needs and to have physical, emotional and psychology health.

For those who wonder why animals have rights it is because they are intelligent, emotional creatures capable of suffering. Not so different from human kind.

The majority of animal abuse cases are never reported and this needs to change. People need to become more engaged in their communities and to be educated on the rights of animals. Surveys have shown that dogs are victims to animal abuse 70% of the time, cats 30% and other animals coming in at 24%. This recent case in China shows the reality of animal abuse in 2017 showing that there is still more work to be done to save animals from this kind of abuse and suffering.