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MANIFESTATIONS

Suffering Manifestations
Jaclyn Christensen, LVT & Abby Rafferty, LVT, CCRP
Mid-Term Week 4
VETE-4267-011

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Animal suffering is too often seen in veterinary medicine and animal care teams. Each
individual likely carries their own interpretation of what animal suffering means. MerriamWebster defines suffering as the pain caused by injury, illness, or loss and may be physical,
mental, or emotional (Merriam-Webster, 2015). In the animal, people must rely on
manifestations that indicate suffering. Animals have only their body language as a means of
communication, thus it is our responsibility to recognize the signs of animal suffering so that the
victim may be rescued. There are 5 primary manifestations of animal suffering that depict animal
cruelty; stress, boredom, distress, emotional maltreatment, and pain. Each of these manifestations
should be clearly recognized by a trained veterinary professional.
Humans often stress about a variety of things including finances, relationships, or careers.
Animals, on the other hand, dont encounter the same types of stressors as do their human
counter-parts. Instead, animal stress occurs when an animal is placed in a situation outside of
their control that makes them uncomfortable. Stress typically leads to anxiety, which over
periods of time can have detrimental effects on an animals health and mental status. Stress may
occur over a harmless event, such as a trip to the veterinary clinic. Alternatively, stress may also
occur in cases of animal cruelty. One example is in the situation of overcrowding. In a hoarding
situation, the excessive noise, close containments, and poor living conditions can lead to animal
stress. Panting, shaking, pacing, and whining are commonly seen in the stressed animal.
Boredom is often thought to be a dismissible condition or state. However, in the animal,
boredom can be a form of animal cruelty. When animals were domesticated, their jobs in the
wild were ultimately lost, but their natural instincts still remain. Dependent on the species and
breed, animals need varying forms of mental stimulation. In animal cruelty cases, it is not
uncommon for mental stimulation to be absent. An example of this is in the situation of a dog

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who is chained in a backyard. With only a small circumference of living space, the animal is
incapable of acting upon its natural instincts. Signs of animal boredom include digging,
chewing, barking, and circling.
Distress can be in the form of mental or physical. An animal in distress is one who is
being subject to a large amount of pain and/or anxiety. Animals in distress are often desperate for
resolve and are in a state of suffering. It is not uncommon for a distressed animal to be in a state
of danger, needing immediate attention. An example of mental distress is an animal who is kept
isolated, with little interaction with other animals or humans. As a result, the animal is selfmutilating by chewing on its feet and not eating. An example of physical distress is a dog who
was left in the summer heat with no shade or water, and as a result is experiencing a heat stroke.
Distress often leads to fear and pain, which are clear indicators of animal cruelty.
According to Merck (2013), emotional maltreatment refers to the link between emotional
states and physical health. The emotional health of a patient can be associated with their physical
well being too. There are four categories of emotional maltreatment; these include emotional
neglect, physical neglect, emotional abuse, and physical abuse. Both the physical and mental
needs of an animal need to be met in order to not cause harm. Each species is different but there
have been studied shown that prove some animals are social beings and in order for their
emotional needs to be met, they need to be around others of their species. Emotional abuse is the
intentional infliction of distress on another individual. These manifestations are also similar to
what you would see with abuse in children. Rejection, terrorism, taunting, isolation,
abandonment, and over pressuring are all categories of emotional abuse (Merck, 2014. McMillan
2005b). Physical abuse can also cause emotional maltreatment if distress is present (Merck,
2013). If the animal has poor coping ability, then the harm done is increased.

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Pain is the last manifestation well discuss. Merriam-Webster describes pain as the
physical feeling caused by disease, injury, or something that hurts the body, they also describe
pain as a mental or emotional suffering: sadness caused by some emotional or mental problem
(Merriam-Webster, 2015). Pain can be a difficult thing to prove in the judicial system;
conscious experience is still questioned when it comes to animals (Merck, 2013). This is where
the veterinary team comes in to play a vital role; we are the professionals consulted when pain is
brought into question. It is important to not anthropomorphize the patient but to be objective and
document what exactly you (physically) see (Merck, 2013). In order to determine if pain is
present, it is important to be able to recognize signs of pain in animals as well as be able to
document it. There are several standardized pain scales available for use and there are also pain
scales geared toward having the owner answer and those that are geared toward having the
professional answer. Two examples of these would be the Glasgow and the Helsinki Pain scales.
There is also a visual analog scale available; this scale goes from no pain to worst pain ever and
is based on a numerical scale (Merck, 2013). Signs of pain in animals range from vocalization,
behavior changes, panting, anorexia, and dilated pupils to not wanting to move and even
inappropriate urination/defecation. Pain has also been recognized as the fourth vital sign (Merck,
2013) and is very important aspect to determining animal abuse and cruelty.
Animal suffering is a large part of animal cruelty and abuse; it is imperative that when
working with a case, you know how to recognize suffering. Stress, boredom, distress, emotional
maltreatment and pain are all aspects of suffering that one should be familiar with. Being able to
correctly identify these markers of suffering could very well be the difference in saving an
animal from its continued suffering. Having knowledge of suffering and what is involved can

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also help better educate the public and clients of the veterinary field to how animals should be
treated.

MANIFESTATIONS
References
Merck, M.D. 2013. Veterinary Forensics: Animal Cruelty Investigations. 2nd Edition. Chapter 4,
Page 86-94.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary, retrieved on 9/18/15 from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/pain