All of my life, I have been a huge animal lover and animal rights activist. I have felt a deep emotional bond with animals ever since I was a little girl. I was raised with many animals around me and had the pleasure of spending time on my dad’s small farm as a child.

Even seeing certain animals make my eyes well up and I completely gush with excitement. I look at my sweet cat and find it hard to believe that some feel animals don’t have a soul or are sentient beings. How can you look in the eyes of a precious animal and not believe there is something more there? The idea baffles me. I see animals and feel adoration and awe towards them - the fact other human beings feel compelled to hurt them is unfathomable to me.

Recently, I was out for a night with my friends when I came across a video on Twitter. The video in question was incredibly graphic - a teenaged boy was seen hurling a defenseless kitten into a road. The poor baby immediately began howling in pain, and one had to sit helplessly and watch this innocent creature undergo excruciating pain.

I remember the moment I watched the video. I was in the car with some friends, scrolling through my news feed, and came across it. I was completely traumatized. My night was absolutely ruined, and I spent the rest of it surrounded by happy bar-goers as I was morose and pensive.

I spent the whole night wondering if the kitten was OK and if the boy was caught... so many more questions reeling through my brain as well. Fortunately, I found out later the kitten was hospitalized and stable, with only a fractured leg, and the boy had been caught by the police and was in jail. I was relieved, but still, I thought inside, “When will animal abusers get the proper reprimands?” The thought still reverberates in my mind.

What disgusts me more is that this is not the first video I have seen of this sort and to go into further detail would be painful. Reliving the horror of the moment is far too excruciating but this needs to stop.

I have seen too many Facebook videos of rescued dogs who were left for dead, heard too many stories about how a friend's dog's previous owner was abusive towards them. People abuse animals and at most, serve a short year in jail and a $1,000 fine. That is absurd and is nearly not enough - it does no justice for the hurt animals.

Imagine if the crimes perpetrated against animals were against humans, no, your children instead. Then, everyone would want the abuser harshly reprimanded, serving prison, be put in a database for abusers, basically tarnishing their life. If one goes out of their way to hurt or neglect an innocent, defenseless creature, they should pay the just price. These evil, heartless people need to be long-term prison time, pay massive fees and have their reputations tarnished for what they chose to do.

Crimes such as this are completely unjustified. We own pets so they can be loved and cared for, be our best friends and parts of our family. To betray one of the few creatures in the world unconditionally, whether it be by hurting or neglecting them, is completely and utterly horrific.

Be a voice for our furry friends who cannot speak for themselves. Animals cannot say no, so stand up to injustice such as animal abuse with the same outrage you would with human abuse when you witness it.