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Preventing Animal Cruelty

 

I’ve been lucky, as a professional pet sitter for eighteen years, not to witness cruelty to animals firsthand. Some of us are not so fortunate and may not know how to handle what we consider cruelty to a pet.

 

First, let’s make clear what animal cruelty actually is. According to the ASPCA http://www.aspca.org/, cruelty consists of causing animals to live in situations that produce abuse and suffering such as:

 

  • Being kept without access to enough food or water

  • Being unduly constrained (e.g., collar/leash/rope/chain too tight and not allowing animal to move, keeping animal in very close quarters without room to move freely, poor bedding or none, etc.)

  • Inadequate shelter from the elements

  • Physical abuse like hitting, kicking, yelling, or otherwise hurting an animal

  • Emotional abuse, such as teasing with food, withholding food after yelling at an animal, pretending to hit an animal then withdrawing, offering outdoor time/exercise/play and then withholding

  • Abandonment

 

What are some of the signs of animal abuse?

 

  • Unusual fearfulness

  • Flinching or submissive behavior 

  • Obvious wounds or uncared for wounds or illness

  • Unexplained underweight or overweight that clearly affects the animal’s health

  • Poor coat quality, unhealthy eyes or ears, etc.

  • Generally subdued or excessively shy behavior

 

Sadly, there are many ways to behave cruelly to animals, and if we see any of these happening in a client’s home, what can we do? What should we do? 

 

Your state SPCA (mine is Rhode Island) can help. These organizations offer resources for pet owners as well as cruelty prevention education programs for all ages. Your local/area animal shelters also offer education in addition to responding to complaints of animal cruelty or abandonment. These folks are usually the Animal Control staff of your local police department and can help you to make a formal complaint or decide if there is actual cruelty occurring. Be aware that your state SPCA is not affiliated with the national ASPCA.

For example, The Rhode Island SPCA is the only non-profit animal welfare organization in the state of Rhode Island that is legally able to investigate and arrest for acts of animal cruelty. Its Animal Cruelty Officers are referred to as Special Agents and have the same power and authority to arrest as any officer authorized to serve criminal process for the purpose of enforcing any of the laws of this state in relation to cruelty to animals, and that power and authority extends throughout the State. RISPCA’s authority is granted statutorily under Rhode Island General Law 4-1-21.

http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/Statutes/TITLE4/4-1/4-1-21.HTM

 

Your state may have such a law on the books, and local shelters and Animal Control Departments will be aware of this.

Animal Control Officers field all kinds of complaints, usually falling into three major categories:

  • Misguided Complaints: In these cases, the complainant incorrectly believes that a violation has occurred. The reporting person believes that the facts they are reporting justify the complaint. In most cases, after explaining the law to the complainant, they understand why their complaint does not meet the legal requirements for an investigation of animal cruelty.

  • Vindictive Complaints: These are made to cause trouble, embarrassment or harassment. The reporting person knows the facts are not true.

  • Legitimate Complaints: These are complaints based on known facts and, if true, may violate the law and require an investigation.

 

If you or an employee see conditions in a client’s home that you feel may constitute animal cruelty, your first obligation is to contact local authorities who can tell you whether what you witness falls under any statute and is breaking the law. Only after determining illegality can you decide how to handle the situation. 

 

If conditions don’t break local/state laws, next step is to contact your SPCA or ask Animal Control for advice on what, if anything, you can do to improve the animals’ wellbeing. Sadly, often we can’t educate or convince owners to make changes in how they treat their animals.

 

Fellow professional pet sitters, we have choices! We can try to talk with our clients about our concerns, if we feel that we can do so calmly and safely. We can gracefully drop the client from our schedule. We can decide to keep the client and do our best to give the pet(s) truly loving care during our visits.

 

Most important, though, is to educate ourselves and our employees about animal cruelty and how it can be prevented. Contacting our state SPCAs, getting to know our local Animal Control personnel, learning about our state’s laws concerning animal abuse will make everyone in our businesses more alert and better able to deal with client situations that maybe upsetting.

  

Holly Holmes

NAPPS Marketing Committee