Ninth grade students in Stephanie Hurt’s English class at Brodhead High School have participated in the National Writing Project’s College, Career, and Community-Ready Writer’s Program (C3WP) all year. Students learned to consider multiple perspectives around an issue and to write evidence-based arguments asking for change. For their final argument, students chose an issue they care about, researched the conversation surrounding the issue, and wrote an evidence-based letter to a real audience, such as these letters to the editor. 

From Zoe Krattiger

Brodhead High School

To the editor:

Due to the high numbers of animal cruelty cases each year, officers should put a stop to them having any chance of continuing. There are about 2,000 cases of animal cruelty each year that is 250,000 animals. (“Animal Abuse & Violence.” Animal Abuse & Violence | Wisconsin Humane Society). Animals don’t deserve the kind of treatment they are getting from humans, they deserve to be happy and healthy where they live. Animals are not garbage that is thrown into a garbage they have feelings too.

On July 24, 1992 in Bronx, NY there was a summer camp where 10 animals were hacked to death. Also on July 24, 1992 there was a 21 year old donkey that was dragged out of his barn strung up with a hangman’s noose and beaten to death (America’s Animal Abuse Problem). This can leave children thinking beaten animals is OK. For people seeing animals in pain makes them feel good about themselves.

Posado, the donkey, couldn’t tell the people that were beaten him it hurt, because he couldn’t verbally say it. They kept doing it to get the pleasure of seeing an animal in pain to feel good about themselves. They don’t just wake saying I’m going to abuse every animal I own that’s not how it works, there had to be a reason.

I have two rescue dogs at home myself. The first one I have is Floyd he came from a family that had another dog, they didn’t take good care of him the only time he got to eat was when he was out of his kennel for the most part he was in a kennel so we took him in. The second one is Duke he came from a guy that locked him in the laundry room until his granddaughters moved in with small children he was then moved to the barn with the horses and kept in a barn stall where he stayed until we took him in and gave him the life he so rightfully deserves