Recognizing animal abuse is important

I want to first applaud Amelia Dickson for the coverage on the article, “Thurston County man accused of beating dog with bat or club”. Often we focus specifically on abuse towards other human beings but it is important to recognize that there are many different types of abuse that can forced upon anyone or anything.

We as a society need to be more cognizant of the fact that abuse is a serious issue that cannot be ignored. According to recent statistics, there are almost 2,000 media reported cases of animal abuse/ cruelty; this should resonate in all of us who are surround by furry companions. Because of these appalling stats, we need to encourage bystanders to take action and report abuse of any kind. Most bystanders passively accept bullying by watching and doing nothing.

Often without realizing it, when bystanders do nothing they contribute to the problem. Passive bystanders provide the audience a bully craves and the silent acceptance that allows bullies to continue their hurtful behavior.Thankfully there was a helpful bystander who was able to report the abuse to the local authorities.

Thank you, Olympian for publishing this article. By doing so, you are showing your audience the importance of animal rights as well as the importance to speaking out in the face of abuse in order to defend those around us.

This story was originally published April 13, 2017 at 6:01 PM with the headline "Recognizing animal abuse is important."