Last I wrote of anger at cruelty to dogs. It was local and timely. Since, we’ve had a terribly sad story of a young man stabbed to death by a man asking for cigarettes and some change. Rage from sympathizers of the murdered young man has gone out against folks aching for the dogs and wanting stiffer penalties for the dog’s attackers:
why care more for the dogs and not for the murdered young man? Why rage against the attackers of the dogs and not against the young man’s murderer?
And it’s true. People rallied around the dogs waving signs demanding stiffer penalties for animal abusers. But there were no crowds waving flags against the murderer.
Think about losing a son to someone who stabs him for want of change and cigarettes. Think about how the loss would blow your mind and heart out of your body –
I cannot grasp such a loss. And to be sure, the loss is not mine. Though I am a neighbor. I turn away at the pain of the mother asking for the death penalty for the murderer.
The murderer? A man who committed the same crime years before and for which he was prisoned. That time the young person he approached did not die from the wounds. This time, the crime happened shortly after the release from prison. What do we discover? The murderer was tried and convicted of the crime and the prosecution claimed the young man was pretending to be mentally ill. However, once in prison, he was stocked up on and fed all sorts of pills to treat his ‘non-existent’ mental problems – bi-polar disease and schizophrenia –
so men serving time with him were safe from him. But once he got out, he stopped taking his meds. And this time killed a man.
An innocent. A college student whose mother trembles with rage as she speaks against the outrage. There are no crowds, no blog posts. No signs.
Is it righteous to feel pain for the dogs?
Is it righteous to feel pain for the murder victim?
Where would you draw a line for response to suffering?
And what about the perpetrators? Where would you draw the sympathy line?
Twitter Comment
New post: Cut him down like a dog [link to post]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
Twitter Comment
Barb McMillen’s Just Sayin’ New Post – Cut him down like a dog. Read it at [link to post]
– Posted using Chat Catcher
Cyber/Picketing response is correlated to the legal response.
Killing a human has potentially serious legal consequences.
Killing a pet has responses ranging from probation (seen it only once) to monetary fine, to ‘kids will be kids’ (gratefully seen that one only once and a longass time ago).
I think part of the reaction to animal cruelty is based on some inadequate attempt to bridge the yawning chasm between the legal remedies for cruelty to animals and cruelty to humans. There are several other factors at play. I recognize that.
I agree, Galen, thanks for the comment. We have little remedy for cruelty to animals. What picketers want are stronger and enforced laws.
As for humans: I also think, as laws go, the trials are for the criminal not the victim. The criminal (or the accused) has rights. And as long as the death penalty is on the table – some focus on the crime itself will be lost.
I think if you can be cruel to animals, you have a potential to be as cruel to humans as well.