[wideawake]

Sounds like a hate crime argument to me.

It isn't remotely analogous.

[FreedomAvatar]

Sure it is. You're using mindset and group rather than action to categorize the severity of the crime. He beat a puppy just for kicks. What if he had pulled the legs off a frog just for kicks? Still gets 18 months in prison?

Perhaps. Maybe had he quickly decapitated the puppy, it would have been more humane. But if he did it for fun...well...

I'm not trying to get in a pissing contest. The bigger issue I see is that animal rights whackos love these kinds of cases. It's obvious we have endowed certain groups of animals with more rights and privileges than others and I have little faith in our politicians to make clear distinctions.