Rhetorical Analaysis of Animal Cruelty, Why does Caitlyn capture our

attention? Experts: We connect with dogs

Sofia Herrera
University of Texas at El Paso

Rhetorical Analysis of Animal Cruelty, Why does Caitlyn capture our attention?
Experts: We connect with dogs.
Why does Caitlyn capture our attention? Experts: We connect with dogs; by Christina Elmore", is an
article about a case of animal cruelty. Caitlyn is a chocolate bull terrier mix. Her story captured all the
audience around the world; on Wednesday, May 27, 2015; Caitlyn the dog was found with her muzzle
clamped tight with electrical tape. Since then she has been recovering at Veterinary Specialty Care.
Caitlyn case is a perfect example of animal cruelty. To be more specific, Caitlyn's owner wrapped her
muzzle with black electrical tape so tight, and because of that, it ripped into the flesh and left her
tongue a deadened shape of purple. Elmore used the rhetorical strategies of pathos, ethos and logos to
explain everything clearly about the case of Caitlyn.
Elmore mostly use pathos in her article; she used sentences that help the audience to know what exactly
happens to Caitlyn and to help us imagine how she feels. Some of the sentences that she used was
"Black electrical tape had been wrapped so tightly around the dogs muzzle that it ripped into the flesh
and left her tongue a deadened shade of purple", with that sentence the audience can imagine how
much Caitlyn suffered, all the fear that this little dog are carrying inside. Furthermore, Elmore includes
pictures and a video in the article, where appear Caitlyn receiving special treatment, and the look that
she had in her eyes are totally of sadness and fearfulness. This helps to the audience to feel sad about
Caitlyn, and to always care about the animals. Also Elmore included people with experience about
animal cruelty cases I think to some degree its just the pure innocence of animals. This is an animal
that cannot talk, it cannot speak for itself and has no ability to say no or to consent. The pure
heartlessness of taking advantage of an animal that is completely innocent creates that kind of
response." Clifton Flynn said in the article, a professor of sociology at the University of South Carolina
Upstate who specializes in human-animal interactions; with that sentence, it makes the audience to
think more about the animals, because it is very true, the animals can't talk, they need us in order to
survive. Caitlyn's story touched the hearts of everyone; it is a very sad story.

Furthermore, Elmore use good ethos in her article; as I said before she used the names of people with
important job positions and that have experience in animal cruelty cases, and because of that, it gives
the audience more credibility about Caitlyn case. When in some article, the writer include people with
important job positions about what she/he is writing, it will always give more credibility to the
audience. Clifton Flynn ( professor of sociology at the University of South Carolina Upstate who
specializes in human-animal interactions ), show us in the article the importance of care about the
animals; Generally, people who have dogs come to think of them as members of the family, and
Weve come to understand in so many ways how theyre similar to us in terms of their intelligence,
their individual personalities, their ability to reciprocate relationships and express emotion. Weve
come to recognize them as individuals as opposed to members of a species, Flynn said. In the article,
it also appears Father Vincent Maroun, he visit Caitlyn in the Veterinary to give her a blessing,(St.
Francis) used to talk to the animals and cared for them, especially the birds, in the wild. He used to
meditate on Gods beauty and Gods gentleness, and would teach the animals, too, that gentleness, and
We console them because these animals were their companion. These animals are a part of their
family, so we feel for them, Maroun said in the article; with those sentences, it can give good thoughts
to the audience to be better persons with the animals and believe everything that Flynn and Father
Vincent Maroun are saying because they are people that have experience with this kind of animal cases.
Elmore's article did not have strong logos; but the few that she has on her article are good. "Prior to the
early 19th century, animals in the United States functioned as part of the workforce, or to serve some
similar purpose, Flynn said. Viewing them as companions is a relatively new concept that in many
ways stemmed from scientific studies exploring their behavior and psychology," Flynn said; and "Each
fall, a ceremony at St. Benedict Catholic Church in Mount Pleasant allows owners an opportunity to
bring their pets to a mass service in the name of Saint Francis, the patron saint of the environment. The
ceremony draws 100 animals a year, easily", said Father Vincent Maroun. Those two sentences are
information that Elmore gives to the audience, that are important to know.

Elmore's article, are a good source to know about Caitlyn's story, not all the story, but the most
important things that the audience should know are in this article. She provide to the audience good
information, most of them were ethos and pathos, and only a few logos. She give us credibility because
she write in her article about the thoughts and opinions of important people with experience in animal
cruelty cases, and because Caitlyn case was so sad, it grabs the attention of all the audience. The
audience reaction about Caitlyn case was good, they want to help; as I said before, Caitlyn's story
touched the hearts of everyone. "At least two petitions that called for harsher animal cruelty laws and a
severe punishment for the perpetrator received nearly 8,000 signatures between them on change.org in
as few as two days. Hundreds more discussed the act of cruelty on social media under hashtags such as
#Justice4Caitlyn and #IAmCaitlyn." Elmore explain us in her article. Elmore's article can be almost
consider informative, she give details, but not enough to know everything about Caitlyn's story, but
her credibility to the audience and form based on emotions makes this article strong enough to be a
good one.

References:
Christina Elmore (June 2, 2015), Why does Caitlyn capture our attention? Experts: We connect with
dogs the Post and Courier.
Retrieved from http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150602/PC16/150609832