If you break it down to its bare essentials:
"Abusing an animal is a way for a human to find power/joy/fulfillment through the torture of a victim they know cannot defend itself."
Now break down a human crime, say rape. If we substitute a few pronouns, it's the SAME THING.
"Rape is a way for a human to find power/joy/fulfillment through the torture of a victim they know cannot defend themselves."
Now try it with, say, domestic abuse such as child abuse or spousal abuse:
"Child abuse is a way for a human to find power/joy/fulfillment through the torture of a victim they know cannot defend themselves."
Do you see the pattern here?
The line separating an animal abuser from someone capable of committing human abuse is much finer than most people care to consider. People abuse animals for the same reasons they abuse people. Some of them will stop with animals, but enough have been proven to continue on to commit violent crimes to people that it's worth paying attention to.
“Anyone who has accustomed himself to regard the life of any living creature as worthless is in danger of arriving also at the idea of worthless human lives.”
- Albert Schweitzer
PLEASE TELL US WHAT YOU THINK.
Answer:
just look at some of the more notorious serial killers. Most of them started early in life, torturing and killing small animals. I have never heard of an abusive person who doesn't take their frustrations out on just a human. Animals are easy to kick around, throw up against a wall, etc because they are convenient. My opinion anyway.
Answer:
I had always heard that there was a connection between animal abuse and crimes against other people. But I never thought about the reasoning behind it until this post. Very insightful!
Answer:
i AGREE WITH YOU 200% LUBA. As you probably know i work in the courts and see and endless stream of 'damaged' dogs everyday, i see theri abusers, i see their families and i am sure that it would not surprise you to know that when i talk to some of them, they have been abused, beaten etc and they always make the excuses for the abuser. they say that 'he didnt mean it, he really loves the dog and loves me', or he doesnt mean to do it, he just doesnt know any better. Charles manson use to torture animals and then went from that to torturing school friends and family members, then that moved to controling anyone around him that he could pull into his web.
Albert Schweitzer was so right and i have used that quote when sentencing many times. On another thread, we met Marks girlfriend and i must say that i am terrified that she will be next. I wish i knew where they were so i could intervene and save her and the dog, but unfortunately i can not and i fear that one day soon we will hear that he has beaten her senseless and then she will tell us that he appoligized and told her he was sorry and that he loved her. Or we will hear that he has killed the dog. There is never a good excuse for a human to torture a animal, my heart bleeds when i think that poor dog is starving and going without fluids this very minute. He thinks that that is training? I dont want to know how he was raised because abuse is passed on in most cases not always but most. Some break the cycle. It is that or he is a pyscopath and antisocial, which is a bad mix. From the sound of it they are both pretty young and that scares me, becasue he will only become worse and with her making excuses, she is endanger now as well.
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If you look throughout the crimes in history....
many many started as animal abusers and then moved up in the world so to speak.
If the laws were a lot tougher on animal cruelty maybe it could be stopped in it's tracks there.
I think anyone abusing an animal should suffer severe conscience's. More then human as an animal does not have the ability to report it. They can only endure until someone else reports it and often most people just don't want to get involved.
Answer:
I think so, from my experience. I had an X who was mean to my bird at the time. I didn't have dogs or cats back then, this was 13 years ago. He was cruel to the bird first, then later cruel to me and abusive.