Dreams and Visions speech

[Sick Silent]

Here is my 8th grade speech, will be updated as I write more of it.
Topic: Animal Abuse

Humanity has come a long way since its first days of hunting, gathering, and cave-dwelling; but one thing has not yet changed, after more than 10000 years of evolution: we still abuse animals. Has humanity ever thought of animals as their equals? No. It was not until very recent times, less then 20 years ago, that humans began to be concerned by animal abuse. Every time you refuse to feed your dog, every time you hit without reason, every time you injure an innocent animal for the ‘kicks of it,’ you are committing a heinous crime against nature. Why do people unnecessarily wound animals is beyond the limits of reason. That is why we must stop hurting animals and start loving them.
Animals are abused in many forms, but they fall into 2 major categories: passive abuse and active abuse. Firstly, active abuse is the less common kind of abuse, but is still the most hurtful to animals. Active abuse involves actively hurting the animal, such as kicking it, cutting it, and throwing it. Most animals involved in this type of abuse are seriously in need for medical attention and in need for a new home, one where they will be loved and taken care of well. Passive abuse is the most common kind of the two, and is, simply put, neglecting to take care of the animal. This type of abuse usually includes not feeding the animal, not giving it any water, or leaving outside for extended periods of time. This type of abuse is just as bad as the first type, active abuse, because the perpetrator of the animal abuse is still in full knowledge of the abuse they committed. It is just as horrible to commit the first type of abuse, as it is to commit the second type. They are just same offense, only in different forms.

Of the many cases of reported animal abuse, there is one that simply stands out. It was the story of a cat, a cat named Dusty. It all began when a twisted 14-year-old named Kenny Glenn decided to post a video of him abusing his cat, Dusty. He repeatedly bashed the poor cat against a wall, but not before making the cat stay in a bathing tub filled with water. After the wall bashing was over, Dusty was subjected to even more punishment as Kenny severely beat him for more than a minute. All of this happened while Kenny’s brother filmed him, and did nothing to try to protect the cat. The video was posted on various sites, until it came to fall onto the hands of 4chan.org’s, a notorious image sharing website, /b/ board. The board is most known for its crude humor and the general feeling of the board to be made up of jackasses. Dusty made this board’s heart thaw and double its size, and right away, the board tried to find the culprit. After months, the perpetrator and his family were identified and harassed until local authorities saved Dusty and Patches, another cat living in the same conditions. Kenny was arrested for animal cruelty.

Animal cruelty has become so widespread that it can fill up an entire page of statistics only. The most common animals abused of are dogs, with 64.5% out of a total of 1880 cases, with cats being the runner-ups with 18%. Also, domestic violence has been tied to animal cruelty; 71% of the victims of violence said that their attacker also targeted their pets. The most common form of abuse amongst animals is neglect and abandonment, with 32.3% out of 13110. The second most common form is shooting, with 11.2%. While shooting may seem cruel enough, there are more disgusting types. Some people even go to the extremes to burn the animals alive. Finally, a statistic that shows hope for animal lovers and animals alike: the number of cases each year has been decreasing since 2006, from a whopping 2708 to a significantly lower 331 so far this year.

Animal abuse is one of the unresolved conflicts of today’s society, and will remain controversial for the years to come. It cannot be ever allowed to continue, as it will only prove to those that have realized its cruelness that humans should not have been granted an amazing capability to think. Animals are part of our world and even the smallest animal has an enormous impact on everything around it. It doesn’t matter how small the help is. It doesn’t matter if it’s a cat, a dog, or even a horse. It doesn’t matter that the only ones who knows about the incident are your mother and father. It does not matter because you helped a defenseless animal, who under different conditions would have been worse off, to be able to live another day and maybe shape another life.

[SoulRiser]

Nice.

Why's it called "Dreams and Visions" though?

[Sick Silent]

It's a school assignment. But I thought I'd post it here, since it was kinda awesome.
Oh, and thnx for comment.