Excellent points. Seconded here. What then of all the frogs and other animals disected alive (or barely) by tens of millions of kids in high school biology classes, or the Boy Scouts cooking a fish over the fire while it's still squirming. Frogs and fish feel the pain, too. The guy's obviously a little off, but animals are property. He destroyed his own property so he goes to prison is tantamount to the destruction of property rights over any living thing (there are some nut-jobs on the Left Coast who think this line of legal development should even be extended to cover plants). The criminalization of such an act fails the test of REASON and "common sense."
The are also some bald-faced lies in the story about correlations. There is no statistically significant correlation between such behavior and cruelty towards humans. It is IMPOSSIBLE to find such a correlation, because so-called cruelty to animals (as defined in the prosecution) is so common. Bull-fighters, farmers who take down cattle, send dogs that get rough with sheep, and on and on. Heck, my local sea-food restaurant just rips apart that lobster with glee -- while it squirms and we all salivate at how it will taste after being boiled alive. Dogs themselves are even considered a staple meat for billions of people on this earth (in Asia).
One of the problems with this prosecution is that the law he was prosecuted under is too vague. If people want to explicitly have pets or dogs or tarantulas protected from such conduct from their property owners, then the law should have listed them precisely. Instead it came under vague laws related to "cruelty to animals." Where does the line start or end?
Footnote: It was once a widely-held view in the field of psychology that people who "personify" animals -- perceive them to have the same standing ("rights") and emotions as humans (or plants, etc.) -- are themselves completely NUTS.
You rock!
As much as I like my two Mutts..that's what they are...mutts. I feed them. Tend to them. Pick up after them, etc.
But when they die? I'll replace them. No biggie. I've had a few dogs over the years. I love my two. But they are dogs. Not people.
I have one Pomeranian that is nearly 11 years of age, has cataracts on his eyes, has few teeth and is going deaf. I'm NOT going to pay thousands to get him all fixed up, so he'll croak it, in a few months. I feed him, water him, keep him warm, and pick up his shite when he can't see to get outside. THAT'S IT. I owe that dog nuthin'. I rescued the git from dog-death-row eight years ago.