What happens to the children that the world throws away? They become Animals. Tayshawn Torres is a child born in the slums and cursed by the sins of his parents. His mother is a notorious drug addict and whore, more concerned with getting her next high than she is with his well-being. His stepfather hates him so much, that he literally treats him like an animal. Tayshawn is forced to sleep in a cage and scavenge for scraps of food wherever he can find them. Because of his squalid appearance, he is also the object of ridicule by all of the neighborhood kids who have given the nickname, Animal.