As I watched Libby show me each and every dog and cat that The Animal Welfare League Shelter housed, I couldn’t help but mirror her actions towards the animals. I watched her gently say hello to each dog and cat by his or her first name in a way a mother would coo to her baby. I looked around to see bright colors on the walls that livened up the place and eliminated the dreary effect any shelter would have in general. The strong smell of animals could not be missed. I heard the whines of dogs and cats wanting attention from me. It was all I could do to not open every one of those cages and play with each of them. As I looked closer at some of the animals, I could see their ribs protruding underneath their skin, most likely from neglect from a previous owner. One dog in particular, named Ollie, was pointed out to me. Libby explained that, “he was brought it about 3 months ago skinnier than he is now. He was terrified to be here and would cower anytime anyone came near him. It took a little while, but he’s not as scared anymore and is putting the needed weight on.” I was immediately hit by the overpowering realization that most of these animals were in here because of one reason: animal cruelty. I was struck by the ability of a human to not care for a living creature; to not value this life companion in the way he or she should be valued. A lot of these animals in this shelter, and any other shelters, have had the unfortunate experience of cruelty. These animals could be in these new homes because of pure neglect from their owners, to the point that the owner tied their leash to a pole outside of the shelter, not even going in to see if the employees would take them. Some of the animals could be relocated to a safe home because they were lucky enough to survive the cruel treatments of scientific experiments and somehow ended up at the shelter. Other animals might be at the shelter from experiencing the smaller side of animal entertainment and then became an unwanted animal. No matter what an animal’s past consists of, they are at a shelter because they are not wanted any longer.