Animal abuse should require harsher punishment for offenders

 
 Two animal welfare reality shows that are currently airing on television are animal 24/7 which follows a branch of Britain's ASPCA on animal cruelty cases and animal cops which follows various States ASPCA animal cruelty calls, one has to wonder, why are there enough cases of animal abuse for these shows to still be on the air? Some of the animals are in such poor condition from neglect that they are literally skeletons with fur. How can people justify having an animal or animals and then literally and figuratively starve them to death? I clearly remember one episode of animal 24/7 where a whippet was seized by the ASPCA with a tumour the size of a softball on one of his hind legs. It was so big that even the vet was, as the British say, visibly gobsmacked at the site of it. The vet felt that the tumour had to have been growing on that poor dog's leg for quite a while to have grown so big. The owners clearly lacked any kind of compassion for their pet who had to lug around that huge growth. If you can't afford a pet why get one in the first place?  Another "breed" of pet owner who should be charged and prosecuted more than they are include those who make money with dog fighting, and puppy mills. Believe it or not puppy mills are legal in some places. Using dogs as a commodity isn't right and all should be declared illegal. Animal hoarders are guilty of animal abuse in my view whether intended or not and they need to be charged a fine for keeping animals in conditions that are usually horrid. Some hoarders have a mental illness and they should be forced to get counselling in order to cure it. Perhaps the most famous of illegal dog fighting rings was run by a Pro football player named Michael Vic. He did get charged and spent time in jail for his crime but in my view he should have known better. Dogs used in the ring are usually chained up outside and not well looked after at all. The bait dogs are usually found in the worst condition of all. Crimes against humans result in the offender going to jail for years and years depending on the severity of the crime but to my knowledge most animal cruelty offenders get less than a year to two years for their crimes even-though in some extreme cases their actions result in horribly painful and slow deaths for the animals who were abused. In my opinion even for animals the type of crime should dictate the length of time behind bars.