Where is the justice for animals?

[Vivacia]

Today i read a horrific story about a cat who was repeatedly thrown from a 60ft balcony by teenagers who also filmed their sickening behaviour on a mobile phone.
One of the teenagers involved has been sentenced to 4 months in a young offenders institution (a holiday for him - where he will get to sit around playing xbox all day no doubt, so hardly punishment), the other three are yet to be sentenced. Now if they had been doing this to a baby i'm sure the sentencing would have been longer. Why do people who inflict animal cruelty get off lighter than those who inflict human cruelty. I think they should carry the same punishment. what makes animal cruelty any less horrific in the eyes of the law?

[jno]

the law is constructed by and for humans. If courts had to be filled up for everyone swatting a fly, not a lot of work would be done.

[steviep165]

send them off to break big rocks into small ones in the blazing sun. no tv, no phones, and a good kicking of the warders on the sly. t**ts.
or sling them in a cage of big hungry tigers.
if there's one thing i cant abide its animal abuse. except to grey squirrels.

[fat rascal]

thats how i feel too vivacia, and it has been proved , i think, thst those that start off by doing this kind of thing go on to be very unpleasent people....personally i'd have thrown the bunch of them off the balcony.

[fat rascal]

hmmmm, not quite the same as swatting a fly though was it jno?

[Rock'n'Roll]

As horrendous as the incident was,I think 'fat rascals' point is just as important,if not more so. Just what kind of scum are they going to grow up into? Sadistic people usually start off with animals.
As for the 'fly' analogy, I think the poor fly would consider it exactly the same

[Loosehead]

Lets thow the little b&stards off a 60 foot drop then. Generation of scum bred by a generation of scum. People as a society we are decaying.

[feebee]

I wouldn't waste taxpayers money by putting them in an institution, I'd throw the b@stards off Beachy Head!

[Nummy]

i think some people think 'well it's just an animal, so what?'

but it's much more than that...it's respect for another creature...for another life.

and until people realise that, the punishment is going to be lax.

personally...i agree with feebee

[flip-flop]

Disgusting and sickening though this crime is, it most certainly should not be dealt with with the same severity with which those that inflict human cruelty are dealt with.

Are you seriously suggesting that killing a kitten should carry the same penalty as killing a human baby?

[Vivacia]

jno - although i would not swat a fly (and do not condone it) it is not illegal to do so, however it is illegal to throw a cat from a balcony therefore the law is acknowledging it is wrong, so why is the sentencing not the same as if it had been done to a human? as for how much work that gets done - there is still a court trial so the length of sentence chosen does not affect how much work does or doesnt get done.

flip flop - yes I definetly, without doubt, believe that animal cruelty should be treated with the same severity as human cruelty, what reason do you have to think otherwise? what do you think makes a cat more deserving of such cruelty than a baby?

Just thinking about what they did to that poor cat tortures me.

[jno]

As I said, the law is for humans. But if you were in one of those hypothetical disasters where you could save only one thing - a cat or a human baby - which would you go for ? For me the answer is easy.

[flip-flop]

Then, vivacia, you have an extremely odd view of the world and your sense of priorities is seriously flawed.

Comparing the death of a kitten with a human baby is aburdity in the extreme, and, whilst I don't think it is an excuse, I'm fairly willing to bet you have no kids of your own.

If you had kids of your own you would think differently. Don't bother protesting, because, trust me, you would.

To clarify, I most certainly don't think a cat (or any animal for that matter) is more deserving of cruelty than a baby - but where such cruelty exists, then it is absolutely just that the crime against the human should be dealt with more severely.

This is a no-brainer isn't it????

[Vivacia]

jno - that question is totally irrelevant to what i have asked. i am asking why the punishment for animal cruelty is not the same as for human cruelty - it is not a case of choosing between the two, if people were given the same sentence for animal cruelty the only people it would adversly affect is those who committed the crime, and surely you can agree that is a good thing?

flip flop - i dont have kids, but i know i would not think differently if i did, to me animal cruelty would still be every bit as bad as human cruelty. why would you not want the sentencing to be longer?

[jno]

because - for the third time - laws are made for humans.

Humans make laws forbidding things that they worry about.

They worry about humans more than they worry about cats.

So the penalties for hurting humans are tougher than the penalties for hurting cats.

That's why.

[flip-flop]

You would feel differently.

[Vivacia]

flipflop - you do not know how i would feel, you can only tell me how you would / do feel.

jno - not all humans worry about humans more than cats, only the ignorant. If that were the case no one would donate to animal charities or volunteer to help with animal rescue etc. But you are probably right that the people who actually 'make' the law are more concerned about humans. But like i said its not a case of choosing between the two, by lengthing the sentence for animal cruelty crimes would not shorten the sentence for human cruelty crimes, so as i also said in my last post this would mean the only human adversly affected by it would be the person who comitted the crime. So although you may be of the opinion that humans are more important, do you actually disagree to lengthing the sentence of animal cruelty crimes to match that of human cruelty? and if so why?

[flip-flop]

Because by matching sentences you are basically saying that cruelty to, for example, a cat - or a rat for that matter, is as bad as cruelty to a human.

And, simply, it is not.

Can you honestly, with your hand on your heart, say that killing a rat should carry the same sentence as killing a human?

I admire your dogged persistence.............but you are wrong diddly wrong wrong

[Vivacia]

No flipflop you are wrong. And yes i believe that cruelty to another being, rat, human whatever is equally unacceptable.
Its not illegal to kill a rat though so there would be no sentencing whatsoever. what makes you think that it is worse to be cruel to a human than to a cat, is it just because you are human? Rather selfish view dont you think?

[jno]

just for the record, I don't think killing cats is illegal, any more than rats. The offence in this case was animal cruelty, so it could apply equally to rats, or any other animal. Would I like to see people given the same sentence for cruelty to rats as to people? Nope; same reason as flip-flop says.

[flip-flop]

Vivacia, you are so wrong that I'm beginning to think this is a wind up - I don't believe for a minute that anybody would seriously suggest that killing a rat should carry the same sentence as killing a child, so, come on, fess up, you are winding us all up, aren't you?

I seriously hope you are, because otherwise I think you might be a bit sick in the head.