[steve-b]

However, a person raised on a farm may have such a low respect for the “feelings” of any animal that they could do such a thing just to “watch what happens” and yet never, in their wildest dreams, consider any such cruelty to a human.

BS. If anything, people raised on a farm have a sharper understanding of the distinction between legitimate reasons to kill animals (food and self-defense) and sadistic sociopathy such as this.

Again, the sort of biped in the shape of a human who would do this is fundamentally defective. The ONLY options are to put it down, or to put the FEAR into it (via severe punishment) so that it will behave. Frankly, I don't care which, but the latter would seem to be more merciful if one does care about such things.

[RobRoy]

>>If anything, people raised on a farm have a sharper understanding of the distinction between legitimate reasons to kill animals (food and self-defense) and sadistic sociopathy such as this.<<

But they more see animals as separate from human. That is my point. A person who can not draw a clear distinction between humans and animals (say, a sincere Peta member) and then go on to do this sort of thing would be a true menace to humans as well as kittens.

Needless to say, it is not an activity to be defended. It is bad behavior. All I am saying is that "bad apples" in different cultures act bad in different ways.

>>Again, the sort of biped in the shape of a human who would do this is fundamentally defective.<<

We are all fundamentally defective, in one way or another. Just as nobody is physically perfect (got any moles?) nobody is emotionally perfect. We all have issues. It is easier to see them in others than in ourselves. Usually.

I agree with everyone here that this was not proper behavior. Where we disagree is in our opinions regarding how "bad", relative to the ways people act bad, this behavior really is. People think there is a special place in Hell for this person. Well, what about people who do things like this:

Or this:

The culture in which we live is quickly coming to the point of "critical mass" where we will look in bewilderment at a time when we wasted a single breath on the welfare of animals while seeing the human misery around us. Frankly, we should already be there.