the laws an *** in Australia

[linnie]

About 6 weeks ago 2 teenagers poured petrol onto a ten week old kitten and set it alight... It didnt die right away but the carers couldnt save him in the end.

The 18 year old boy was sentenced to 18 months jail (fair enough)
Then some moron judge overruled it and gave him some community service.

We have rather high penalties for animal abuse but they have never yet been meted out.

What is the use of having these penalties if we allow youths to get away with this sort of behaviour...I can only wonder what type of adult he turns out to be

[Pugdawg1]

How horrible. There's some very sick people in this world.

[G3Shepherds]

OMG...........that is awful!!!!!!.......I say death to them!!!......Seriously......That is so sad.......why in the world someone would harm an innocent animal is behond all reasoning!!!.......Most of us take better care of our babies (dog's, cat's, and other pet's) then most people do their own children.....To me, this kind of act is totally outragous!!.......Sounds like he should get what he gave that poor little kitten!!!

[Lil'Paws]

Thats just horrible. If they had harsher punishment for these sort of people I bet they'd think twice about doing it again. And stick to it. They shouldn't be allowed to overrule the punishment.

[flyndog]

Community service should be cleaning out all the cat boxes in town.

[linnie]

The really sad thing is that even if harsh punishments are meted out som moron can overule it. Wonder how that person would feel if it was his/her pet.
G3shepherds You and I have the same opinion
I would disown a child if he had the capacity to inflict this sort of harm on anything

[Cassiepeia]

Oh my gods, they overruled it?! *sigh* I hate these people too. The biggest problem is that not only will these kids continue to hurt animals because 'hey it's no big deal and you don't get jail time for it anyway'... there is the potential to move on to people later on. Most abusers, murderers and serial killers started on animals first.
Animal abuse is something that should be taken seriously for many reasons. This 'community service' crap really gives me the irrates!!

Cass.

[sunny98]

How sad! These guys should get in a lot more trouble than that! I will never in my life understand how someone could hurt an animal! That is just plain wrong!

[Tortilla]

That's horrid that kids can pour gas on a kitten, set it on fire, and get a slap on the wrist for it! If a juivenile commits a crime, they should get punished like anyone else. This person is obviously troubled and will probably grow up to be a criminal.

[lonewolf777]

That is horrible. It has already been said, but, I will say it again, there is a correlation between animal abuse and violence to children and other humans. The laws should be tougher on any kind of abuse.

[feinwerkbau]

I am not well-versed in sociology, political science or law, but these thoughts came off the top of my mind when I read this post ....




I wonder, if one day, the laws do get tougher, or rather, the hand that delivers the punishment is willing to do so, more severely ...

What would actually or possibly happen?

1) Would violent, mindless crimes and abuse on animal be reduced to a point that they become almost negligable in any organised or developed society? For now, let's stick to the area of animal abuse since it's obvious that many countries have very different standards for animals and humans.

2) What are the possible mid and longer term possibilities, and what could the implications of such societal dysfunction indicate? I don't think I would want to get into the consequences as yet, but they do exist.

Views please...

Q1) Do you think that a harsher degree of severity of punishment within the definitions of law be handed out to those who are convicted of animal abuse?

Q2) Under what circumstances, and what may be possible areas where even harsher punishment be meeted out, or where less severe punishment may be necessary? How would this change a society?

Q3) Do you think there could be a better way of addressing these problems? If so, what would you suggest?

For the sake of a discussion, let's assume the premise that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

Disclaimer:

Please note that I personally do not advocate any act which could possible be construed as tolerance of abuse, or cruelty, on a personal level, but every state, country or even rural village has very different definitions of what is actually cruel, abusive or neglect, which in some places, constitutes abuse.

I get confused, and so do many animal lovers where I live because we see so many instances of what some of us would outrightly think is abuse or neglect, but the definitions 'seem' to get blurred."

[His masters voice]

It all depends on how you describe cruelty. I think keeping chickens in cages so small they don't have room to move is cruel. Should the farmer whose making a living on a supply and demand basis be punished? What about other "food chain" animals, raised as quickly as possible in horrible conditions just to be slaughtered 6 months later! Is it fair to have one punishment for one and not for another just because they are providing a service? and if so why?

I know the likes of the people mentioned in thread one are not playing with a full deck of cards, but a judge can not show bias to the extremities, or before you know it there will be idiotic cases of farmers in court just for trying to make a living. I think community service with a life time ban on owning pets would have been more appropriate.

[calgal]

Dommer started out torturing and killing animals. Setting a kitten on fire (which is a heartless quest to delibertly kill) is far worse than keeping chickens safe in a pen and chicken house. It's how you percieve it to be........again.

[His masters voice]

Originally Posted by calgal

Dommer started out torturing and killing animals. Setting a kitten on fire (which is a heartless quest to delibertly kill) is far worse than keeping chickens safe in a pen and chicken house. It's how you percieve it to be........again.

I'm not for one second trying to justify his actions, which as you quiet rightfully say is a heartless quest to dilibertly kill.

I am mearley pointing out that animal torture is taking place on mass scales, and just because they don't have fur doesn't mean they don't feel pain.

As far as chickens living safe in a pen and chicken house goes take a look at this site.

http://www.factoryfarming.com/gallery/photos_egg.htm

[Cassiepeia]

Fein - Not that I don't think that's a valid discussion, but isn't it better suited to the debate thread?

Cass.