RSPCA UK

Photo by xbloodsin Published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License

The RSPCA UK do great work and are I understand pretty darned wealthy to boot (mainly through legacies bequeathed in Wills). They recently issued some new figures on animal abuse in the UK which would be worrying if most of us didn't think that they are really quite predictable. We know youth violence is on the increase so it really is a natural extension of that. Often violence towards inanimate objects, then vulnerable animals smaller than humans and finally other humans is a kind of natural progression in the school of violence.

RSPCA UK say that figures for convictions for animal abuse for 2007 show an increase over the previous year.


RSPCA UK figures showing convictions for animal cruelty in relation to dogs and cats. (source: RSPCA website).

The RSPCA UK say the increase is a reflection of the increase in the "throwaway" culture of modern Britains driven by greater affluence. I think this culture is also driven by cheaper goods and the reason for that is the Chinese manufacturing monster. We really don't need more cheap consumer products. We need a better quality of life, a more truthful and sensible life. I would say that China is indirectly responsible for an increase in the idea of "throwaway" goods. A lot of products are not worth repairing where once they would be.

Anyway, I think the increase in violence against animals goes deeper than the throwaway culture, which is only one factor of many. We all realize that in Britain there is a growing problem with disaffected youths. This is very apparent in London. This can only be caused by family breakdown. When a child is raised properly he/she will be unlikely to be violent to animals or violent at all. But in dysfunctional households, of which there are many, the child will learn bad behavior from the parents and be raised without knowing what is acceptable and not acceptable (boundaries). The child will also not be aware of the consequences of his/her actions (translated into a lack of responsibility). They will be de-sensitized to the consequences of their actions. If one is sensitive to the pain suffered by animals then we won't be violent towards them.

In short it is about education delivered by parents at an early age and beyond. And discipline imposed by fair and balanced parenting. The problem, of course, is perpetuated and expanded by disaffected and violent children passing on what they have learned or not learned to their children. Often, too, people from these backgrounds have more than the average number of children but we are not allowed to say that as it is not politically correct. We also not allowed to say that sloppy distribution of social welfare benefits fosters irresponsible behavior as well.

Of course it is more than education on a fundamental level. People who keep cats should know before adopting a cat the needs and behavior of their cat. Expectations should be realistic (RSPCA UK mention that expectations are often misplaced). We need to respect other animals. People who are violent to animals don't even respect other people. I am also sure that a lot of violence directed at animals happens when inherent anger in the person is allowed to be expressed because they are plain drunk. Alcohol fueled violence is common in Britain.

The good thing from my perspective is that the RSPCA UK report indicates that cats are abused less than dogs. But I can't believe this unless dogs are more normally kept by violent people, which is probably the case as dogs are treated like a weapon and status symbol by some thugs. These people will sometimes turn on their dogs.


RSPCA UK to Home page

RSPCA UK - Photo: this is of an abandoned animal testing laboratory, a form of legalized animal cruelty perpetrated by educated people (for good and justifiable reasons?)