Someone broke your heart, you went home and locked yourself in your room. Flashes of the sweet memorable moments kept playing through your mind. Just last week you were talking about getting married in the future. The painful truth had just pierced through your heart. He had just left you for your best friend. Thinking that you are all alone by yourself, and thought that life is so unfair and there's no point to live any longer, you took a pair of razor sharp scissors getting ready to end your misrable life. Having no second thoughts on what the consequences will be, you are about to slit your wrists when you hear a soft whimper behind you. It was your brand new puppy that your parents got for you as a birthday present. You remembered that you promised your parents to take good care of it. With tears flowing down your cheeks, you took Otis into your arms and gave him a hug.

The above abstract was a true story which a close friend of mine had actually underwent. Of course, she allowed me to publish a small part of the story in my blog as long I have her name anonymous. Just a small fraction of an incredible story. Well of course, this post is certainly not about the responsibilities in a relationshiop nor a love story nor about vengeance. It's basicallyabout the pet we have at home. Having a pet is always fun. There's always someone by your side, whether to play or be by your side. Undeniably, it's always good to have a pet. A cute puppy or kitten might just cheer anyone's day up by just a look at it. After all, a pet has to eat, sleep and most importantly cared for. They care for us and in return we should care for them. Getting straight to the point, the reason I posted this post is regarding the many animal cruelty cases that is still happening in throughout the world. Some pets aren't just as lucky as the others. Instead of getting the deserved love and care, they are abused.

Abuse exist in the mind of a person when he or she enjoys hurting someone else whether through emotions, physical harms or sexual harms. In this case, animal cruelty is more likely to be labelled as pet abuse. There's 2 types of pet abuse. The first, being the passive cruelty. Passive cruelty are acts of omission and such act is recognised as neglect. Negelect may sound painless but don't let the term influence you. Let me categorize the types of neglect that those useless monsters did to their pets:

• Dehydration
• Starvation
• Parasite Infestations
• Having the collar grow into the pet's skin
• Inappropriate shelter in harsh weathers
• Failing to seek a veterinary care when the pet is sick

One can never understand the mind of an abuser. The other sort of abuse would be the active cruelty which in contrast of passive cruelty, is an act of comission. This sort of abuse is more common as compared to the act of neglect. It is where the owners has malicious intent to deliberately hurt their pets. Why do people even want to injure their very own pets? Some cases occur in violent homes. An abusive domestic partner may injure the pet to intimidate the others. Such scenes are described as despicable.

A few years back, I used to attend a chinese tuition class nearby my house. She lived with her husband who was an engineer and they had a german shepherd as a pet. When I first saw the dog, it wasn't really in a good shape. I didn't care much as I left the tuition the following year due to some packed timetable. In the year itself, I saw an article regarding a dog which was being neglected by its owner in The Star. I was horrified when I found out that the dog was of my tuition teacher's! The dog was reported to be a victim of neglect. The dog was initially infested with tick but seeing the condition it is in, the vets decided to put it to sleep to end its misery. A post mortem reveals that the dog had an empty stomach, shrunken kidneys, a brittle ribcage which indicates inadequate nutrition over the years, and haemorrhage in its lungs, a sign of pneumonia. Also, its nails were long and curved into its paws; each time it tries to walk it hurts. See, still think that neglect sounds painless? The only thing the owner said was that he was too busy with his work and household chores so he couldn't find the time to crae for it. So?! Then why get a dog?!!

This article can be found in the following link:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/10/18/courts/12347380&sec=courts

It hurts to see such a pet being treated this way. The only punishment the idiot got was a RM100 fine. A RM100 fine?!! Where is justice?! How can he get a RM100 fine for killing his own pet?! Should'nt there be a more serious punishment? We should really work on something to help protect the rights of the animals. I am doing my part in raising awareness of animal cruelty here already and of course would be interested in doing more. If you suspect your neighbours or yourself to have been abusing your pet, try contacting the local pet awareness body for help and advise.