Abuse is never okay

By Published On: 3 May 2010Last Updated: 17 January 2017

If one person is unkind to an animal it is considered to be cruelty. Where many people are unkind to animals, especially in the name of commerce, the cruelty is condoned and, once large sums of money are at stake, will be defended to the last by otherwise intelligent people. - Ruth Harrison, author of Animal Machines

What's in this post

Injured Kitty

If one person is unkind to an animal it is considered to be cruelty.  Where many people are unkind to animals, especially in the name of commerce, the cruelty is condoned and, once large sums of money are at stake, will be defended to the last by otherwise intelligent people. ~Ruth Harrison, author of Animal Machines

Every year, approximately 50 Billion (that’s billion with a “B”) domesticated land animals are slaughtered for food worldwide.  That’s roughly 1,680 sentient lives lost every second.

Meanwhile people are outraged that the cute animals are dying.

For the record, I am outraged at the following examples of animal cruelty.  But I am no more or less outraged at the death of a cat than I am the death of a cow- they are both heinous.

Cat owners warned to be “on their guard” after 11 cats were poisoned with anti-freeze in a two week period. All eleven cats were killed or put down after swallowing the deadly chemical.  Rachel Walker-Higgins, 31, whose cat Garfield was poisoned said:

It seems deliberate. I can’t understand why somebody would do this, it’s awful.  I’ve been out and put up posters to make people aware of what’s happened, and warn them to keep their cats indoors.

Then, this guy:

The Cat seriel killer

Tyler Weinman faces 19 felony counts of animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal's body, and four counts of burglary Photo: SPLASH

Tyler Weinman, 19, was arrested (in June 2009) for the serial killings and dismemberment of cats– lots and lots of cats.  Weinman faces 19 felony counts of animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal’s body, and four counts of burglary.  Police believe he is behind the deaths of more than a dozen cats, their mutilated bodies discovered by horrified owners and local residents.  His attorney at the time had this to say:

It’s trial by ambush,” Weinman’s attorney, David Macey, said. “It’s anything goes so that they can have a body, a warm body, to solve these cat killings. My heart and my sympathy goes out to the owners of these pets, but unfortunately, it won’t provide them any relief that Tyler’s in custody. Tyler is innocent.”

Fast forward to March 2010 – Weinman appeared in court last Wednesday for a status hearing where prosecutors said they’d be adding two additional charges of felony animal cruelty and improperly disposing of an animal body to the 19 charges he already faces- bringing the total to 21 charges all together.  Weinman also faces four counts of burglary in connection to the animal slaughters.  Weinman allegedly mutilated the cats, cut them into pieces, and left them on their owner’s doorsteps.  Weinman has been out on bail (which was originally set at $249,500) and under house arrest since last June.  He has been petitioning the judge to allow him out of house arrest to take tests on a college campus- and apparently it has worked.  He is now permitted to leave to take the tests.

Aw, isn’t that nice?  A teen accused of such heinous violence is permitted to go and take classes- even though there have been direct links between violence towards animals and violence towards humans.

In fact, “…Up to two-thirds of those who commit animal cruelty also commit at least one other criminal offense, including drug trafficking, assault, rape, theft and homicide. Most troubling of all is the strong connection between violence toward women and children and animal abuse.”

And there’s more….so many that I could never list them all.

How can we continue to condemn one form of animal cruelty when we condone it for our dinner plates?

The time for evolution is now.

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HELLO! I'm KD Angle-Traegner.

Writer, activist, and founder of Four Urban Paws Sanctuary. I’m on a mission to help people live a vegan life. Read more about KD…

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