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Dog Abuse - Facts and Figures

Mike Sagman

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A retired dentist who has advocated for the needs and rights of dogs since he was a child, Dr. Mike Sagman supports the Heritage Humane Society of Williamsburg, Virginia and Best Friends Animal Society.

Dr. Mike Sagman founded the Peninsula Junior Humane Society to help fight against dog abuse at the age of just 11.
Dogs are the most-often-abused animal in the world.
Animal advocates report that approximately 6,000 documented cases of dog abuse occur each year, a number that corresponds to 60 percent of all animal-abuse cases.
More than 25 percent of these dog-abuse cases involve pit bulls.
Dog-abuse cases fall into several categories, neglect being the most common at 32 percent.
Animal hoarding, which occurs when a person keeps too many animals in an unsanitary environment, stands out as the second-most prevalent form of abuse at 13 percent of cases.
Shooting and poisoning fall not far behind at 11 percent and 10 percent (respectively) of reported cases.
In addition, pets are frequent victims of human domestic violence.
Approximately 1 million animals experience abuse in the home of their owners, and 71 percent of pet-owning women who enter shelters state that their abusers injured a family pet as an act of revenge.
Dogs are also subject to abuse due to practices such as dogfighting, racing, and even poorly conducted breeding.
Approximately 5,000 puppy mills across the United States function purely to drive profit for owners, while dogs are kept in often unsanitary and cramped conditions.
Close to 10,000 bulldogs die each year from being forced to fight, and many racing greyhounds are killed once they are no longer in peak performing condition.
The statistics may seem bleak, but awareness is a key step in preventing the continuation of cruelty to dogs.
Hopefully, the more knowledge that spreads about animal abuse, the less society will allow it to occur.