what constitutes abuse? Some friends of ours have 2 dogs, 2 birds, numerous fish, 2 ponies, 4 cats and two rabbits. All of the animals are well feed and taken to the vet but noone interacts with them. They get an animal and for the first few months they pay tons of attention to them but then they join the rest in being ignored.

I think what you are describing pertains to a good number of family pets today. If they have good shelter, medical care, good food and access to water, they are not abused. Neglected in a sense, and it's not very nice or very fair - but their basic needs are being met.

Not all people consider the animals you mentioned as "companions". From their upbringing, they see them only as "animals" that are kept to serve a purpose. Dogs are protectors, cats keep the rodents away, horses or ponies are for labor. Birds, well I assume they keep them in the house. At least they have two of everything so the animals do have their company.

I see where you are coming from. I also was raised to treat the family pets as members of the family but, again, there are people with different views and their thoughts have to be respected too.

They randomly buy animals and to keep the grandkids happy. At one point in time 20 people lived in the house or the RV parked in the driveway.oh and I forgot the leopard gecko that they haven't yet fried it's guts. The first one died within a week so they just got another.

There is alot of injustice in this world and animals can't do much to complain so they're easy target. It's a daily struggle to not let it get to you too badly. Advocate for the animals when you can and as hard as you can.

theres alot of dogs in my neighbor hood that are just tied to a tree in the backyard all the time. its so sad to see that they dont get any human attention and no exercise. i see them every morning when i walk my dogs and they just bark at us like crazy and you can tell they are out there all the time because their body is full with red clay because most people back yard does not have grass. even if they are feed, i just feel bad for them.