What constitutes abuse and/or neglect?

[Raised By Wolves]

In a lot of discussions, I'm finding quite a varience in how people define abuse or neglect when it comes to dogs.

Although dogs are not people, they are social mammals, just like us. I am the last person you will find "anthropomorphising" a dog. But, the flipside of this, is treating them as if their physical needs, are all that matters for them to be "happy".

Humans have all kinds of psychological terminology, which we use to define abuse or neglect, among humans. Can we include some of these in how we treat our dogs? Can a dog be "emotionally" abused?

Isolation and under socialization, are two areas I would place in at least the neglect catagory. Social creatures need social interaction in order to be emotionally stable and healthy.

I've heard some folks say telling your dog "no", is in the very least unkind or counterproductive. My stand on that one, is that it is more unkind not to give your dog boundries and let them know what you expect from them.

What is your definition of abuse or neglect?

[mrsgrubby]

Oh my gosh, I lost my first post to this question. I will try again.

I love this debate question, I think it will be good.

I think the following are necessary to a dog and lack of them would constitute neglect.

(1) Basic obedience training. Dogs need basic training at the very minimum. Without basic training they as well as people could be in danger. Plus dogs are smart and crave learning new things. Training stimulates their brains. believe to be a good family pet and safe in society dogs also need boundries, which help teach them manners.

(2) Excercise. All dogs need excercise. Different breeds need different amounts but all dogs need excercise. A dog in a fenced in back yard will not excercise it's self. (Just like a person going through daily activity is not really getting excercise.) Many behavioral problems stem from inadequate amounts of excercise and stimulation. How many times have you read a post where the mods. are saying, "excercise your dog, a tired dog is a good dog" they aren't kidding. Walks, playing ball, frisbee, etc need to be done daily, and some dogs will need more than others. Husky's for example can pull sleds in long races. Penned up Husky's with no outlet can develop issues.
(3) Socialization. Animals are pack beings.
(4) food, water, affection

I am sure there are more, and look forward to other responses.

[princessjodi]

Can a dog be "emotionally" abused?

I def think so! A dog that is constantly yelled at, ignored, etc could very well develop emotion issues. When we first got Joules, she was very timid and not very playful and she hardly ever smiled. Now, she wants to play 24/7 and is always smiling.

Dogs are social animals and crave physical attention...whether human, canine, feline, whatever. A dog kept outside all the time with no interaction will behave very differently than an indoor dog with constant interaction.

[dollface]

They need there basic obedience, love and attention, socialization ect and a warm place to sleep as well as healthy food and exercise. Can't forget vet trips to stay healthy...

I think an animal should be treated in away that we would want to be treated, just like a family member, but they need to know their place...

If someone cannot give this to an animal then I would consider it abuse and neglect.

[Carrie]

I think it's abuse or neglect if your dog can't sleep on the couch or bed with you, can't get any leftovers, if you don't take them with you on a date, if you don't buy them a down coat from LL. Bean. Ok....I'll lower my expectations just a little:

I think, like everyone said so far that since they're social creatures, they need company, maybe not all day long, but plenty of it. They need to be with their family a good deal of the time, need a job of some sort, even a lap sitting is a job to a toy breed, need kindness, patience and good, smart training and handling, communication and motivation. They need a good, fair, leader who guides them and makes them feel secure that their needs will be met. They need socialization at a very young age to be able to adapt to the world and be well adjusted. They need ample involvement from their families, not just shut out of their lives into the back yard all the time. Of course, they need good nutrition, exercise, warm shelter and good medical care. They need protection from things that can harm them. They need to be prevented from procreating, unless there's a very good reason, as in improving upon a breed. That is our duty.

Oh...I just stated what I thought they need, not what was abuse or neglect. Well, anything short of that would be abuse or neglect, I guess.

[linnie]

I am with Carrie lol.
But in regards to the debate I feel that dogs need social interaction and discipline.
They need love and protection and guidelines.
An abused or neglected dog in my opinion is a dog that isnt given attention emotionally or physically.
Dogs are like children and thrive in an environment filled with love and boundries.

[iloveamlet]

i watch animal cops on animal planet a lot, and there are some really extreme cases of abuse in many forms. i think abuse can be the physical form of beating, or starvation. but then there is also the emotional kind. dogs want nothing but love and to please us. so not really loving a dog, and showing it attention is neglect. i mean, not taking your dog on a walk everyday is not neglect. i'm taking locking it up in a cage 24 hrs a day and not showing it any attention. if you watch the show on animal planet its really nuts how bad people can be to dogs. and the sad thing is, pit bulls tend to be the neglected and abused dogs.

[Ritz459]

Hmmm....abuse and neglect...here is my opinion.

Neglect - I think that a not so extreame case of neglect would be leaving your dog outside 24/7 penned up all day, with little to no exercise. It may or may not be healthy, and it may or may not have water and food. Basically, the dog gets no interaction with its people and is very depressed and barks all day long when it isn't running in circles. I think an extreame case of neglect would be no food, no water, chained up outside all of the time, little to no shelter, no vet care, flys eating the poor doggies ears off or if it is in the winter, no heat, and NO human contact.
And even inside dogs can suffer neglect. They are kept crated or ignored, and not tolorated to do anything wrong. But I think that might borderline with abuse. Or they may not have been trained and have never been groomed in their life. (My mom met somebody at the Vet's like that...she said she thought Dr. Greasy[sp? Our head Vet] was going to blow a fuse at the lady...he got the dogs groomed and bathed, as well as vet checked, depsite the lady's protests. Bet the dogs where happy. And the idiot lady was also letting her dogs run loose in the office...Dr. Greasy saved her little Shih Tzu from probably being eaten by our dogs....long story.)

Abuse - I think as neglect as a type of abuse, but abuse, I guess, is more physical. So I would think of a minor case of abuse being a very rough training meathods, or physically slapping/hitting/kicking your dog when you don't like what it is doing. Major abuse would be breaking bones in your dogs body, using it as a football, and all of the other grusume and evil things that happen on Animal Cops.

I think, like everyone said so far that since they're social creatures, they need company, maybe not all day long, but plenty of it. They need to be with their family a good deal of the time, need a job of some sort, even a lap sitting is a job to a toy breed, need kindness, patience and good, smart training and handling, communication and motivation. They need a good, fair, leader who guides them and makes them feel secure that their needs will be met. They need socialization at a very young age to be able to adapt to the world and be well adjusted. They need ample involvement from their families, not just shut out of their lives into the back yard all the time. Of course, they need good nutrition, exercise, warm shelter and good medical care. They need protection from things that can harm them. They need to be prevented from procreating, unless there's a very good reason, as in improving upon a breed. That is our duty.

And I'm with Carrie with this as how you are supposed to take care of a dog.

[calgal]

Ignoring a dog unless it does something you don't like then you yell or hit or both. Not letting the dog live within the human pack. Not giving proper food and water. Not getting medical attention when needed. These are some of the things that fall into animal abuse in my opinion.

[flyndog]

Every state has some kind of animal abuse or anti-cruelty legislation and the definition of abuse differs. Here is my state's definition of cruelty:

§ 821.021. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "cruelly treated" includes tortured, seriously overworked, unreasonably abandoned, unreasonably deprived of necessary food, care, or shelter, cruelly confined, or caused to fight with another animal.

Even research papers don’t use a consistent definition of abuse or cruelty and it is interesting to see how state and local animal welfare laws define it. It is a subject that is usually given little consideration.

The following statement by Dr. Frank Ascione works well to define abuse as “socially unacceptable behavior that intentionally causes unnecessary pain, suffering, or distress to and/or death of an animal”. It's the definition I use.

Animal abuse closely parallels child abuse and comparing the definitions of child abuse and neglect is helpful in defining abuse of the family dog. Like children, dogs can be physically, sexually and psychologically abused and seriously neglected. In fact, you can’t help dogs with problems without digging into family dynamics. Dogs are very good at telling us how dysfunctional their family is! But that is a separate debate topic!

Kit

[BigDog2191]

Well, I think abuse/neglect would constitute the following:

1) Hitting a dog on the nose, although I know many would disagree, I think would NOT constitute dog abuse. Personally, I think abuse is a repetitive way of causing harm. Like taking a belt or some other object and beating the dog with it. But even a slap over the head or anything like that- I don't think so- we all lose control sometimes.

2) Now not feeding a dog for several days (neglect).

3) Not socializing a dog properly (neglect).

4) Leaving a dog outside and going to see it every once in a while (neglect).

5) Not doing anything with the dog (Obedience training, exercising it, giving it affection)- I believe all these would be some form of neglect.

[Pippinislove]

I also think abuse/neglect varies dog to dog, but I think that's pretty much common sense. Some dogs are going to need more socialization, training, attention, exercise, etc. and some dogs aren't going to be able to be outside in certain weather, while others can because of coat type.

Originally Posted by BigDog2191

1) Hitting a dog on the nose, although I know many would disagree, I think would NOT constitute dog abuse. Personally, I think abuse is a repetitive way of causing harm. Like taking a belt or some other object and beating the dog with it. But even a slap over the head or anything like that- I don't think so- we all lose control sometimes.

I don't think a behavior has to be repetitive/continual to constitute abuse. I agree, we do sometimes "lose it" because of stress and do something inappropriate. But I think that beating a dog is beating a dog, regardless of whether it's happened before and/or will happen again. It still constitutes abuse. I can understand a little rap on the muzzle or a small spank on the flanks when someone "loses it", though not ideal, the dog will probably live (and I don't think that is considered abuse overall, it really depends on the dog and whether physical corrections/punishments are warranted or not).

But kicking the dog as hard as you can once in the gut is not "repetitive", but it's still abuse.

But, also, people when raising kids or dogs or whatever, need to know their boiling points, and need to know when to walk away before they do something negative because they got too mad or frustrated. I agree, we all have our moments, and I've "lost it" myself, but it's our responsibility to make sure that we try to prevent it from happening again (and to learn to control ourselves when it does). But I think that's a debate for a different time.

[Mom2Many]

I agree with the above statements for the most part, especially FlyDog's definiton.
I would like to add that I believe it is abuse when a female dog is made to continuously breed, one cycle after the other, this is to hard on them physicially as well as emotionally in my opinion.

[Seddon06]

I think this post is one of the worst I have seen, some UK charity has approved kickings and beatings as part of training some dogs, they would not come and answere the poster who exposed it.

http://s7.invisionfree.com/dogadvice...?showtopic=109

[willowmum]

and thats from a site that promotes using e collars which many also feel are abuse.