What Do You Think (not for the faint of heart!!)

Even though it would be greatly offensive to many of you on the left coast....

The punishment should be about the same as that for a "doctor" who tears to pieces a baby whose only "crime" is living in America's most dangerous place, a mother's womb!

 

are you talking about an intentional or accidental abortion of an unborn child?

 

uh, stepping aside of turning this into an abortion issue and actually answering the question at hand, I'd say 10 years in prison, no parole should do it. The true 'fair' judgement would be putting them to the same fate they put to the dog, but of course that's not possible. I figure they'd be bitches of someone or another for those 10 years, and that'd hopefully give them a taste of what they did.

-m.

 

And the difference between this and hunting is???

Oh, yes, game animals are put there by a loving God so we can kill them and put their heads on our walls as trophies, whereas dogs are "man's best friend."

And of course people who eat meat and wear leather will say that what those jerks did was a lot worse than the slaughterhouse beause those animals were raised for the purpose of salughter, so nobody need be concerned about them, and they are killed "humanely," so we can pretend they don't really suffer at all.

I don't mean to make light of cruelty. But I would ask anyone who's outraged by this whether they eat meat, wear leather, etc. Then there's all the cosmetics tested using the draize test. And the animals killed by our garbage and pollution...

But I suppose we have to draw the line somewhere, so let's lock 'em up and throw away the key because their particular act of cruelty is not socially acceptable.

 

are you kidding me?

The fact of the matter is that this type of cruelty is a red flag of worse behavior to come. It has been documented that people who torture and kill animals for "kicks" are more likely to take their aggression out on humans as well. I do not agree with hunting, but I do not think hunters enjoy inflicting pain on their prey. And though the correlation was lost on me, last time I checked women still have the right to have a safe abortion. And no, I do not live on the "left coast". :roll:

 

And with hunting, while I personally don't like it, while I'll personally never kill an animal for pleasure or sport - I can respect it IF - and only if - the person hunting uses the carcass to it's full ability.

While I don't like it, people will want to do it for a long, long time. However, eventually we need to, as from a simply evolutionary standpoint, all become vegetarians eventually. I have a hard time eating any meat myself after watching a special on animal planet about a dog and a fish that are best friends and spend all day together and 'kiss' each other and so on.

It's a bit naive, as daniel seems to imply, that dogs are one thing but cows are another. If I am to believe that dogs have souls, and I do, I cannot expect or assume cows do not simply because I consume them.

What I really need to do is stop eating meat. Like I said, it's something our society as a whole needs to do in the future eventually.

-m.

 

Speaking of consuming meat, a friend of mine visits Illinois often and he recently returned with an interesting statistic. If Americans stopped eating red meat and replaced all the feed corn that is grown in this country with sweet corn, we would be able to feed most of the underfed people in the world with corn. There's a hell of a lot of empty land used for farming and holding cows.

 

The other difference, according to m-w.com, is in the definition. Merriam-Webster defines hunting as "to pursue for food or in sport, specifically : the pursuit of game". Dogs, at least in America, are not considered "game."

They didn't hunt this dog; they found in in a common area of town. No self-respecting hunter, NRA member, or common redneck would shoot a deer or turkey in the middle of town. There is no sport to that, no hunt involved.

I'd also throw at them the discharge of a weapon in city limits charge, since they supposedly shot the dog on the street. You can't fire a weapon at a soda can in city limits around here, much less at anything living.

Is this Mayor up for re-election? If he/she is not, I think I'd also be invoking a California-style recall election on them, and have them removed as well. I've always been partial to the idea of running people out of town being chased by a mob of torch-welding citizens.

My two cents...

Tim

 

I raise cattle for a living

I find it interesting that non-farmers who are vegetarians for moral reasons don't really understand agriculture or the realities and ecology of producing food. You are animals, ergo you must kill. Whether a cow or a tomatoe has a soul cannot change that. Did you know that dog was a popular food for most Native Americans nations? Though not a fan or practioner of "factory farming" the reason the bulk of grain and legume crops is fed to livestock is to add value to those crops. A pound of steer is worth alot more than the seven pounds of corn it took to produce it. Look in your newspaper and see what the current price for a bushel of corn (56lbs.) is then go to your grocery store and see what a pound of hamburger costs. A pound of steer is certainly more nutritous for humans than the pounds of forage he eats. I could go on ... and on, but the central point is that as animals you have to kill. Why you kill and how is more a human concern, not a dog's or a cow's. I don't enjoy killing others, but I respect their lives.

Later, Jay Shinkle at Iron Mountain, Missouri

 

I agree, but there is more to this story. There always is.

I agree with above:
"the incident i described is not "sport" in even the most twisted of
definitions. it is simply an act of sadistic cruelty that has no place in
society as far as im concerned. it is obvious to me that these boys
have serious mental problems and im afraid its only a matter of time
before they move their attentions to human beings. it may be a
battered wife, someone killed in a bar fight, abused children, or just
some more poor unfortunate animals who get in the way.

In addition to maximum jail time for animal cruelty, community service, and court ordered treatment, what happened to these kids in the first place? I suspect abuse and/or neglect in the past. This behavior did not appear out of nowhere. It has history that can be traced back. And, more importantly, it will progress if not treated and the longer it continues the harder it is to correct. Most perpetrators are victims first.

Jody Rawles, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
UC Irvine College of Medicine

 

While a "clean" kill may be considered less cruel than an "unclean" one, Dave's last post acknowledges that many animals killed by hunters suffer long, slow, agonizing deaths, fleeing in terror from their pursuers.

There are two alternative ways to transition away from raising animals for meat: the more extreme humane way would be to allow them to live out their lives without breeding. The more "practical" (in the capitalist economic sense) would be to slaughter those that are already here but cease breeding them. And the only reason corn and legumes fetch such low prices is because we choose to live in an economic system where people without money are left to starve.

These kids displayed an intensely anti-social streak, not because they were cruel (we are cruel all the time: failing to provide adequate medical care for the working poor is shamefully cruel! leaving human beings to freeze on the streets is cruel beyond imagining!) but because they so flagrantly disregarded the norms of society.

But as far as "cruelty" goes, these kids were not much different than the rest of us. If we took a close look at the log in our own eye, we'd all hang our heads in shame.

 

So much fun when a post goes off topic.. or the topic travels a little

Here in california, the punishment is a minimal 3 years in prison i believe. I've hear about a case of animal cruelty and inquired about it to animal rights activist. The person did not testify against him.. but if he did, the person would have faced prison for abusing two cats. The cats were still alive... but abused.

Killing an animal for pleasure is sick and twisted. It's close to killing a human for fun... but humans walk on two feet and can talk.

I grew up with one rule when it comes to hunting. If you kill it, you will eat it. I remember hunting quail with a pellet gun... mmm... quail taste good though. That's the only time i've killed anything though. Besides my hamster.. but that was an accident.. he was in his exercise ball and ran over the barricade i made and rolled down stairs.. i was very sad that day. especially when i waited the next 8 hours to see if he would live or not.. poor hamster.

 

If they were caught stealing in an Islamic country it would be, “off with the hand." I wonder what Islamic punishment would be dealt out to these two. Maybe blinding . . . because they did not see the beauty in God's creatures?