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Absolutely! And I also think that children under the age of 18 who torture animals should have to enter some kind of program that monitors them to see if they fit the serial-killer profile.
It is here in Australia. A woman here was recently fined $5000 and ordered to pay $17,000 court fees for mistreating her dog. Yay!!!!
Absolutely! Mandatory stiff jail sentences, and community service plus fines!
There should also be mandatory animal abuser neighbor notification so people will know to be careful about where their pets are.
I think they should take these people and do to them what they do to animals ..tie them up outside for days with no food or water, beat them, burn them, etc.. Stats show that people who abuse animals will also abuse kids, elderly, etc. These are the same people who will murder, rape, etc for a thrill..People say animals are just "property".. bull. Sound too harsh? too bad? If I had money, I would donate it to ASPCA.. ThEre is nothing worse to me than a person who would hurt an animal.
There's overwhelming scientific evidence that nonhuman animals, from the simplest to the most complex, are capable of feeling pain. There is similar evidence that mammals and birds have rich emotional lives and inner worlds, and can form deep relationships with each other, and, in some species, with humans. Finally, some problem solving behaviours observed in primates, crows and ravens, some other mammals, and even some species of spider can only be explained in terms of analytical reasoning capability and abstract thinking. There is no legitimate basis on which to proclaim any real distinction between humans and nonhuman animals. There is only a difference in degree, not in kind, when it comes to their mental capabilities.
That said, the ethical and consistent thing would be to provide nonhumans with equal protection under the law with humans. Obviously their rights would be on par with infants and the severely mentally disabled, since that's the extent of their mental faculties (so no dogs voting!), but there isn't any justification for less protection under the law than that.
So, the short answer is "yes". And the long answer is that animal cruelty (including homicide) should be prosecuted with the same penalities that would apply to similar cases of cruelty (or homicide) to humans. Given that there isn't any uniquely human quality that separates us according to the investigations of modern science, that is the only rational, consistent thing to do.
it's appalling that it's not one already.
Without a doubt.
Yes - this is a bee ive really got in my bonnet - im disgusted with the lack of respect shown to animals in the world today - and its being passed down to kids, who dont seem to realise that animals have every right to be on this planet and that they have feelings!
Yes
Of course it should be a felony. People who are cruel to animals are usually cruel to humans as well.
ABSOLUTELY!! usually people just get a slap on the wrist which is not right.
Most definately.
I think it is, isn't it? If so I agree with it.
If not it should be.
How do you plan to do that when all the law makers are eating them? Just to give you an example, do you think anyone cares about this, when what's for dinner is a higher priority to most people?
No, because the law will only go after fringe cases of animal abuse. Some criminology studies suggest that probability of being caught is a much better deterrent than the severity of the punishment. Moreover, the prison population in the U.S. is already inexcusably high (about half in prison are nonviolent offenders).
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Maybe if we decriminalized drugs and prostitution (I didn't say endorse, just decriminalize) we could view people involved in these messes as those who need help, not a punishment.
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I am opposed to animal abuse, but it is speculative if making the narrow cases of legally recognizable animal abuse a felony will actually help animals. A slaughter house worker might kill more calves in a day than the amount of dogs that Mike Vick killed over a long period of time.
Yes, and in some states they do have to pay fines and I believe go to jail. We need more pet police in all states and every country.
yes and the convicted should be made to enter rehab for their cruelty
Yes, i hate people whoa re cruel to animals.
Which animal LOVER would deny it?!
Yes,yes,yes! It's unbearable to see an animal suffer at a humans hand.
It isn't? I knew a guy around here that served some prison time for abusing a dog.
Yes, it absolutely should.
Yes I do..
Honest. I'm against cruelty to animals. But the priority is all screwed up. There's child abuse. There's child health care. Rape victims. Battered women. How can we pretend to know what animal rights are when we cruelly mistreat our own kind. Let's get a handle on our OWN cruelty, THEN let's talk about felonizing idiots who hurt animals.
Definatly!!!
Most definitely. They should get jail for it, and be banned (for life) from ever owning any pets of their own in the future.
When we stop ripping babies apart and chucking them in the trash at a rate of 1.2 million a year for the sake of convenience , then I'll worry about animals.
No, that would be asinine yo...
Absolutely yes. People who torture animals are evil and definetly have the capacity to hurt people too. Animals are living, breathing, thinking, feeling beings and should not be used as toys for your entertainment. As far as I'm concerned, people who are into torture of complex animals or humans deserve the death sentence.
Here is what I think about it.
it depends
some ppl consider the act of eating meat AC
in this case no
Only if aborting/murdering babies is a felony.Michael Vick got 2 years in prison for fighting dogs,yet a fellow football player got only 24 days in jail for killing a man while driving drunk.It sad you hate people for animal crulety,yet have no problem with babies being slaughtered in their mothers womb.Lord help us.
No, Laws are suppose to keep civilizations from becoming anarchy. so if a person kicked another person, they would be charged with assault, a simple misdemeanor, however under your plan, if they kicked a dog, they get 20 years in jail.(felony conviction for cruelty) also, they would lose rights such as voting. on the other hand, current laws state that if a person kills another person and it is an act of racial prejudice, they are charged with violation of civil rights, that carries a 5 year sentence. So, i think we need to leave the cruelty to animals issue alone, until we fix laws regarding ourselves.
if someone is actually hurting an animal just to be mean absolutely
IIE is NO at japan, humans have priority, is human cruelty is felony, animal cruelty is not.
I thought that in the US around 46 states had felony penalties for some forms of animal abuse now, though disgustingly some states only consider animal abuse a misdemeanor UNLESS THE ANIMAL IS A 'POLICE ANIMAL'! Ridiculous and nothing to do with animal welfare. Things would be a lot better if serious penalties were put in place. However, thank god the US is not as backward as China where, believe it or not, there are zero animal welfare laws!
Absolutely!!!
If you can buy it at a pet store or from a breeder, then you have to realize that it's property. There's no way that it should be a felony.
It depends on what it is or if what you're doing even deserves the title of "animal cruelty"..Also, it disgusts me that I've dealt with mostly girls who are against this because on FB, they wanted to stop what they considered animal cruelty groups on FB and these were not animal cruelty groups so I stick my middle finger up at those girls and a couple guys for their snitching and false reports...
Would this be a felony?
in some cases they can even put the death penalty on it, for all I care.
..Whoops this was supposed to be a comment, stupid AB/computer not doing as its supposed to =/
Was Jesus just really upset about everything requiring the killing of an animal?
by MrX on March 27th, 2011
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Does banning Halal and Kosher killing really have anythiing to do with animal rights?
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You're reading Do you think animal cruelty should be a felony?
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me too
by -_You Can Leave Your Hat On....- on May 8th, 2008
Yep, I agree..many sociopaths started their careers as animal abusers..I think you'd be hard pressed to find a serial killer that had not engaged in that activity.
by APACHEmeansENEMY on May 8th, 2008
Very good!
by Tveg on February 24th, 2009
What if a 16 year-old person works at a slaughterhouse during summer break? Should he or she be investigated to find if the child is a pyromaniac and bet-wetter too?
by failed_stoic on March 13th, 2009
If the 16 year old person enjoys and gets off on partcipating and observing animal torture, yes.
by APACHEmeansENEMY on March 13th, 2009
Also.. pyromania and bed-wetting are not key indicators of potentially becoming a serial killer...
by Nathan Explosion on March 14th, 2009
I will never understand why law makers of this century still allow for these types of cruelties and the extreme perverted bullyings of non-human beings that happens to share the same planet with us http://www.youtube.com/v/en16FRQm3Wc
by Discipline on March 23rd, 2009
@Nathan Explosin: I am just relaying what I've been told about the homicidal triad. eg. http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/streiber/273/inf_origins.htm
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@APACHE: What about a 16 year old that could tolerate slaughterhouse work, but found it neither pleasurable nor disturbing? What if he chose a slaughterhouse job over landscaping or grooming animals?
by failed_stoic on March 26th, 2009
I'm not talking about employment. This question refers to laws regarding animal cruelty. The line of thought that you are presenting has multiple factors ex. wages, local economics etc. I really do not understand what your point about a 16 year old working in a slaughterhouse that finds it "neither pleasurable or disturbing" has to do with intentional animal cruelty. It's a completley different subject.
by APACHEmeansENEMY on March 28th, 2009
I am simply wondering where the line is drawn. If the kid would not harm a pig for free, but would slit the pig's throat for $0.75 each to avoid being charged as cruel to animals (it is the same to the animal whether the person is being paid or not). Maybe the kid would prefer to slit pig throats instead of hiking or playing video games like his peers. Maybe he would give the money he earned by slitting pig throats to a local pound to prove that he cares about animals. I am simply wondering what draws certain people to work in slaughterhouses. Is there a common personality trait that these people have?
by failed_stoic on March 28th, 2009
Well, I would never do it..but I see a big difference in slitting a pigs throat, thus killing it quickly, in order to earn a living....the sum you provide of .75 cents is relative to the earning potential of your 16 year old and the current pay rate in his town...I see a difference in this than say, leaving your pet dog tied up outside your back door until the chain grows into the skin of his throat and he slowly dies of starvation....and when he dies leaving his emaciated body right where he lay..passing him everytime you leave the house.(I'm taking this scenario from a true story...not a hypothetical one)
by APACHEmeansENEMY on March 31st, 2009
I see a big difference between the two..and as horrible as it may sound...there are worse crimes against animals being commited by the people who end up like Jeffery Dahmer. There is a difference in my opinion. big time.
by APACHEmeansENEMY on March 31st, 2009
Ok, I agree that there is a difference, but I would venture to say that slitting, say, 100 pigs' throats a day because that is the line of work that the youngster prefers could be arguably worse than neglecting one dog. What if the youngster was paid to neglect the dog in above account you mentioned? Would that excuse him from consideration as cruel to animals?
by failed_stoic on April 7th, 2009
Nathan, only if you're a vegetarian and don't contribute to the abuse and ultimate murder behind closed doors of the lives you eat every day, then I commend for your views. http://www.youtube.com/v/iBM0NULDYl8
http://www.youtube.com/v/dXx_ocntl6o
by Discipline on April 7th, 2009
What about this http://mttu.com/abort-pics/index.html
by Jesus is God on July 23rd, 2009
Jesus is God, if you really wanted to prevent abortions you would teach people about the ovulation cycle, abstention, condoms, pulling-out, spermicide .... If more people thoroughly understood reproduction and contraception there would be far fewer unwanted pregnancies. Where did you get the idea that if animal cruelty is reduced abortions will increase?
by failed_stoic on August 7th, 2009