Sent to prison for dog cruelty extreme?

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My mom told me you can be sent to prison for being cruel to dogs.

I know obviously dogs have the same rights as other people but do you think prison is a bit extreme? A lifetime ban from having a dog as a pet and hefty fine I think would be more appropriate than a prison sentence.

No it's not extreme.
It's often not enough.

It depends on the nature of the cruelty.

I think if someone's needlessly committing violence against an animal that a prison sentence is absolutely appropriate. If someone commits those actions against their own pet, banning them from owning a pet would be an additional punishment that might be appropriate.

For what it's worth, dogs don't have the same rights as people because they're not legal persons. They're property.

That said, cruelty to animals is a crime because we recognize that both wild animals and chattel animals have some degree of rights, even if they're not the same rights afforded to people.

Cruelty to animals is a sign of psychopathy.
Any animal - not just dogs.

Individual cruelty to animals can be an indicator of psychopathy, as Isabella says.

Participating in socially sanctioned and normalized acts of animal cruelty says more about the society than the individual though.

Socially sanctioned should be understood as contextual though. The person kicking a pig to make them get back in line for slaughter is likely doing what they've seen coworkers do, so I'd argue that's more a sign of how the culture around them (abattoir workers) impacts people.

It's not unlike how good people can behave like utter bastards when they wear certain uniforms and get given certain duties (cops and occupying military forces, for example).

Yep, there's a pretty wide range of "cruel" from making them watch you eat before feeding later to some pretty f-ed up medieval torture type stuff. I do think that anything from being banned from owning or being around any to long prison terms are potentially warranted depending on the specifics though.


Yes, although it's more associated with sociopathy. Psychopaths aren't as likely to do something like that unless it's part of some sort of larger plan. Sociopaths would do it because it gives them a kick to do it knowing that it disgusts everybody else.

It's even more so the case when children abuse animals, children who haven't been abused or don't have any other driving force behind their actions.

Some people are born bad.

I'm pretty sure they're called children. The same kid who would know to never hurt a puppy might have no qualms over hurting rodents or frogs or bugs, and might see no issue with their dog (or cat) murking the local wildlife (even when they personally witness it).

It's not like this sort of compartmentalization is limited to children. Are all the Israelis calling for genocide right now evil or some pop-psy label we can apply to other them? No, they're what good people look like in the wrong circumstances.

The pet owner excuses the cruelty their pet inflicts because they love their pet and have no investment in whatever animals it's killing (until their bully tears their cat to shreds).

The kid sticking firecrackers inside frogs is only thinking of the frogs as playthings.

That mechanism of us/them is incredibly powerful in all people. It's just a question of what will provoke it.

I think that people should be sent to jail for dog cruelty and locked up for life.

Personally I think you'd need to have a pretty extreme example of animal cruelty before life in prison should be on the table, considering the other crimes where life in prison is applied.

Putting someone away for the rest of their natural life is a big deal and probably should be reserved for particularly terrible acts.

Especially when you consider how broadly cruelty to animals can be defined.

All animals have feelings & want love. I will say animals are BETTER than alot of humans.

No.

Next question.

I agree Kitty. Many animals don't have the scheming, backstabbing instincts of humans, as well as lacking the many other undesirable characteristics of humans.

He deserves to be put in jail
This issue is worth discussing.
I believe that the fundamental purpose of all laws is to safeguard people's fundamental interests.Therefore, animal protection has a certain degree of legitimacy.
They should be protected when animals help humans psychologically as pets; when animals help humans medically as wild animals; when animals serve as carriers of genes, they help humans in the possibility of scientific development.
When you can prove that it does no good to human society, you can abuse it, just like kicking a stone.
If animals have the right not to be abused, then they have the obligation not to abuse other animals. If animals have the right not to be abused by humans, then they have the obligation not to abuse humans. This seems ridiculous to me, you cannot ask animals not to abuse people for moral or legal reasons, they will just succumb to violence. This is the same as requiring all animals to be vegetarian in order to protect the environment.

They do not have the rights of people; they are viewed as property under the law.



No, I don't. In fact, I wish people were more often prosecuted under our current laws.

People that abuse animals will abuse people.
Lock them up.