Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse or animal neglect, is the infliction of suffering or harm on an animal by a person, whether through a deliberate act or through neglect that causes suffering. It covers both active mistreatment and passive failure to provide adequate food, water, shelter or care. Laws against animal cruelty vary widely between jurisdictions, and typically address separate questions such as how animals may be killed for food or clothing, and what standards apply to animals kept as pets or used in entertainment, education or research. Some jurisdictions and researchers also link a pattern of animal cruelty to zoosadism, a recognized psychological condition involving pleasure taken in an animal's suffering.
Facts
Jurisdiction VariationPractices such as docking a piglet's tail are routine in the US but prohibited in the European Union 1 Classification
Offense GradeMinor or Summary Offense 1 Connections
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Sources
1. Cruelty to Animals (Wikipedia)
WikipediaSection: Legal approaches, international variationQuote, Section: Legal approaches, international variation
docking a piglet's tail is routine in the US but prohibited in the European Union (EU)
The Law Dictionary: Cruelty to Animals (Black's Law Dictionary, 2nd edition)
The Law DictionaryIn Group: Poaching, Wildlife Trafficking and Harm to Animals, DefinitionQuote, In Group: Poaching, Wildlife Trafficking and Harm to Animals, Definition
The infliction of physical pain, suffering, or death upon an animal, when not necessary for purposes of training or discipline or (in the case of death) to procure food or to release the animal from incurable suffering, but done wantonly, for mere sport, for the indulgence of a cruel and vindictive temper, or with reckless indifference to its pain.
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