6 min read 7 People Who Were Animals' Worst Enemies This Year

<p> Instagram/Justinbieber </p>

This year was a good one for animals in many ways, from fascinating new discoveries, to better protections for wildlife, to whatever is going on here. But not all animals will count 2014 as a good year. Here are 6 people and groups who are responsible for some of the year's worst crimes against animals: 1. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

Christie had a big decision to make for animals this year: whether to side with 93 percent of his state's voters and ban gestation crates that confine pigs in small cages, or side with Iowa. In what was called a "cynical political calculation," Christie vetoed the bill, even earning the ire of Jon Stewart. 2. Justin Bieber (Instagram/justinbieber)

The pop star paid Germany $10,700 in fines and expenses this year after adopting - and then abandoning - a tiny monkey named Mally in 2013. While the monkey is thriving at a zoo, his keeper, Jenny Niawoehner, told the U.K.'s MailOnline this year that Bieber probably did not properly care for the monkey. "Mally was frightened [when he arrived], he was alone, he was disoriented and we did not know how things would work out for him. He needed to be cared for constantly. I believe that Justin Bieber probably only ever interacted with him when he wanted to have his picture taken with a fan." 3. Taiji dolphin fishers (Sea Shepherd Cove Guardians)

Despite the Oscar-winning documentary "The Cove" which revealed the horrific dolphin drive hunts in Taiji, Japan, yet another hunt began this September to backlash around the world. Pods are regularly driven into the infamous cove, where some are plucked out for lives in captivity and the rest are slaughtered for their meat. 4. Corey Knowlton (Facebook/Corey Knowlton)

The hunter who bid $350,000 for a permit to hunt the black rhino in Namibia at an auction in January was instantly vilified by the internet. Knowlton has yet to obtain the endangered rhino in question, thanks to a ban on rhino trophy imports put in place by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He argues that the money would go to rhino conservation and that the animal is old and would be culled anyway, but he's still faced the ire of many critics. 5. Kendall Jones (Facebook/Kendall Jones)

A Texas cheerleader rocketed to fame after photos showing her hunting rare, vulnerable species in Africa went viral and internet viewers grew outraged. Like Knowlton before her, the backlash was strong and swift, and even resulted in a petition calling for her to be banned from hunting in South Africa. She's now taken her act back to the U.S., where she hosts a YouTube hunting show. 6. SeaWorld CEO Jim Atchison (Flickr/Dorothy Driscoll)

After a series of very public and very embarrassing corporate partnerships falling apart, SeaWorld's CEO failed to turn the company around. Amid backlash over the company's treatment of its captive orca whales, Atchison stepped down from his position, though he will still serve as vice chairman of the board as well as a consultant to the company. 7. Consumers (Flickr/lenny_montana)