Every living thing can get abused- even dogs, cats, and humans. You might think abuse rates are going down, but they’re actually going up, and we can prevent it.

Dog Abuse

Abuse can happen anywhere: at home, at school, and other places (The Dodo). A dog was found in the wild, starving and looking dead. The dog had an injured leg, a damaged rib cage, and a bruised foot, and if a kind man hadn’t found him and fed him, the dog would have died. Dog abuse can happen anywhere and millions of dogs die each year due to abuse.

Child Abuse

Child abuse can kill a child (Washington Post). A man named Juan Canales killed his infant out of anger. He claimed that he was “frustrated” and hit her with a chair. She died two days after being hospitalized. Juan Canales was sent to prison and is awaiting trial. Children are getting abused over parents’ anger and if a parent is feeling like their anger is going to hurt a child, they need to talk to someone or call the child abuse prevention hotline 1-800-4-A-CHILD or (1-800-422-4453). This will help you calm down and prevent yourself from abusing your kids.

Cat Abuse

According to the article by WPBF (WPBF News), a man named James Venango was caught abusing their family cat, and it was all recorded on camera. In the video (WPBF News), you can see James Venango slamming the cat on the ground and choking it. If James Venango’s daughter wasn’t recording, the cat would have been injured even more in the future. Juan Venango’s daughter was recording because she said “It was the right thing to do.” Over 860,000 cats get abused every year. According to this article by Fox (Fox 8 News), a kitten was found in a dumpster slowly dying- a random person with no animal skills just left him to die.

Difference Between Abuse and Disciplining

Some people think abusing is disciplining, but abusing is when you hurt them and disciplining is when you teach them. According to this article (CBS 12 News), a woman was arrested for abusing her kids, but she said claimed that she was just disciplining them because they broke into their neighbors’ house. When the police arrived, the kids claimed they were hit with a belt several times, causing marks and bruises on their bodies. Instead of abusing your kids, you can calm yourself down by talking to a friend or family member. Once you calmed down you can talk to your kids.

In this article (Child Trends), a man said that child maltreatment rates have gone down from “13 per 1,000 children” to just “9 per 1,000 children”. On this site (Child Help.org: Donate), you can help abused children have a better and happier life.

Child Abuse is Still Happening

Even though child abuse rates have been going down, millions of children are still abused each year and each child that gets abused could be traumatized for life. When children stop getting abused, sometimes the children can suffer trauma, depression, mental problems, and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder); these side effects can last a lifetime.

Biography 

Chidozie goes to middle school. He is currently in a writing class. Chidozie has a twin brother named Chinedum, an older brother named Kelechi, and a younger sister named Chidera. Chidozie can also do the move called the back handspring.