Animal Cruelty; the Bloody War Let the voiceless speak. Animals have roamed harsh lands and glided through choppy waters for about 510 million years, while humans have only existed for about 200,000 years (Cain/Ramel). The earth was the animal kingdom for about 509 million years until Homo sapiens began to appear, growing as fast as bacteria. They became part of the food chain, from the top; their minds were much more complex than those of most animals. They were able to think more deeply, their bipedality allowed them to hunt better, and of course, their opposable thumbs were a challenging advantage over these animals (Cain). Over time these humans began to take over the animal kingdom, using their minds to exploit animals for food, heat and sport. Soon these people began to deceive animals, what we now call animal cruelty. Some treat animals as if they were a king or queen, yet 65 billion animals are abused every year, killed for food, used for scientific and medical testing, entertainment and clothing. Animal cruelty; the bloody war we must fight together to save those who have no voice. At some point in our lives we were asked this question: if you were an animal, what animal would you be? We sit and think, then we just say that animal, but what we don't realize is how these animals, which we have chosen as such, are actually treated. The real question should be; Would you rather be a respected animal or a mistreated animal? Most would answer, respected. But, as we see around the world, masses of these animals are abused and killed every day, and "Every year, 6 to 8 million dogs and cats enter shelters, and 3 to 4 million shelter dogs and cats are killed ( Ernst)... ... middle of paper ....... .Goodavage, Maria. "The "fake" fur on your coat could be dog fur." ​​Dogster blog for the love of dogs 20 January 2010. Web. March 30, 2011. "Pet-Abuse.Com - Abuse Connection - The Link Between Animal Cruelty and Interpersonal Violence." Pet-Abuse.Com - Home. March 31, 2011. Ramel, Gordon. "The Evolution of Mammals." The Web of Earth Life. March 29, 2011. .Triggs, Charlotte. "The Fake Fur Scandal - Stories of Real People: People.com: The Celebrity Site #1 for breaking news, celebrity pics and star style 09 April 2007. Web. 31 March. 2011. .