Of course, the best way to fight cruelty is to teach as many people as possible how their pets should be treated — and what they should never ever do. Parents and educators should teach children how to safely and humanely interact with animals at an early age, as well as how they can tell if an animal is being harmed and what to do about it. You can help spread the word by utilizing your own community to do so. For instance, you can share messages about proper treatment of animals on your social networks or offer to teach a class at your local elementary school or even pre-school. Beyond this, people need to stand up for what they believe in when they witness animal cruelty and take a stand by reporting the behavior. The more often that abusive individuals are punished, the less likely others are to do the same thing.
Try to gather the following information before submitting a report of animal cruelty: A concise, written, factual statement of what you observed—giving dates and approximate times whenever possible—to provide to law enforcement. Photographs of the location, the animals in question and the surrounding area. Note: do not put yourself in danger! Do not enter another person's property without permission, and exercise great caution around unfamiliar animals who may be frightened or in pain. If you can, provide law enforcement with the names and contact information of other people who have firsthand information about the abusive situation. It is possible to file an anonymous report, but please consider providing your information. The case is more likely to be pursued when there are credible witnesses willing to stand behind the report and, if necessary, testify in court. Keep a record of exactly whom you contacted, the date of the contacts, copies of any documents you provided to law enforcement or animal control and the content and outcome of your discussion. If you do not receive a response from the officer assigned to your case within a reasonable length of time, make a polite follow-up call to inquire about the progress of the investigation. If you see cruelty depicted online, there are steps you can take to report the site or images in question: Access this background information for a particular website by visiting www.whois.net and doing a "whois" search of the site in question. Contact the site's ISP (Internet service provider) about the offensive material. If you have concrete information that a website is displaying/promoting criminal acts, you may wish to contact any or all of the following organizations and advise them of the facts of the situation: Local law enforcement officials ("Local" in this case means based in the area from which the website originates—the "whois" search will provide you with the registrant's address) and, if you think an animal is in immediate danger, the possible offender's local FBI branch Your local animal shelter or humane society, which may have the power to enforce animal cruelty laws in the area The local city/county Health Department/Board of Health, because abuse of animals often involves unsafe or unsanitary conditions for humans The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), but only if what you have seen has a financial element (someone selling, trading, or offering an illegal good or service) Local and national media organizations, as the power of the media to bring public attention to an animal abuse situation can help initiate corrective actions