Sentencing for cruelty against animals?

[aelf]

Why compare me to hitler? Didn't he put the first animal cruelty laws in place?

Don't you know, part of the Nazi stance towards the Jews was that they were sub-human? That was an excuse for why they could be treated that way.

Acts of cruelty are cruel. It doesn't matter what the recipient is.

 

[Silurian]

Well he did not shatter all the bones in the two dogs bodies.
But he did not just hit them in the head if you look at the photos on the net.

 

[Oruc]

Don't you know, part of the Nazi stance towards the Jews was that they were sub-human? That was an excuse for why they could be treated that way.

Acts of cruelty are cruel. It doesn't matter what the recipient is.

Dogs are human now?

 

[aelf]

Way to miss the point.

 

[Synobun]

Dogs are human now?

No, but they are moderately intelligent and very emotional as they have been domesticated animals in the presence of Humans for thousands of years, and has thus adopted some of our concepts (love, happiness, loyalty). Stray dogs are no different from groomed dogs inside a warm house, in the same way that a homeless man is no different from a man in a business suit.

 

[civ2]

The problem is, nowadays lots of people CARE more about DOGS than their HUMAN neighbors...
I've seen this a lot - and such articles just prove it even more.
Horrible...
PERIOD.

 

[Oruc]

No, but they are moderately intelligent and very emotional as they have been domesticated animals in the presence of Humans for thousands of years, and has thus adopted some of our concepts (love, happiness, loyalty).

Wishful thinking.

The problem is, nowadays lots of people CARE more about DOGS than their HUMAN neighbors...
I've seen this a lot - and such articles just prove it even more.
Horrible...
PERIOD.

Agreed

 

[Synobun]

The problem is, nowadays lots of people CARE more about DOGS than their HUMAN neighbors...
I've seen this a lot - and such articles just prove it even more.
Horrible...
PERIOD.

In a lot of ways dogs deserve our compassion more than our neighbour. There are some real pricks on this planet, at least a dog remains rather innocent.

Edit @ Oruc: What? Wishful thinking? How am I wrong?

 

[Silurian]

The problem is, nowadays lots of people CARE more about DOGS than their HUMAN neighbors...
I've seen this a lot - and such articles just prove it even more.
Horrible...
PERIOD.

So if a stray dog is near your house do you.

A- Take it to the vet and get it put down.
B- Make sure there is no food, water around so it goes away
C- Hit it repeatedly with a hammer.

 

[Synobun]

So if a stray dog is near your house do you.

A- Take it to the vet and get it put down.
B- Make sure there is no food, water around so it goes away
C- Hit it repeatedly with a hammer.

I know this isn't directed towards me, but personally I just give a piece of bread, a cup of water, and send him/her on his/her way. Stray dogs/cats here usually don't approach people to begin with, and when gifted, they are grateful.

In a future situation where I have my own residence and a vehicle, I would consider bringing it to a vet to get it its shots and all cleaned up and then bringing it to a animal adoption centre.

 

[aelf]

I'm really not sure how this piece of news suggests to people that dogs are treated better by society than human beings. I'd think that it suggests the opposite

I mean, imagine if those dogs were people. This guy sure wouldn't be spending a mere 9 months in jail, and no one would even think of complaining about his punishment.

I guess some people just think in mysterious ways. Kind of like their God(s), I guess.

 

[Silurian]

I know this isn't directed towards me, but personally I just give a piece of bread, a cup of water, and send him/her on his/her way. Stray dogs/cats here usually don't approach people to begin with, and when gifted, they are grateful.

In a future situation where I have my own residence and a vehicle, I would consider bringing it to a vet to get it its shots and all cleaned up and then bringing it to a animal adoption centre.

No problem.

This person obviously does not like dogs and did not want them around.

In Macedonia I don't think many people would take in a stray dog, I have known people who regularly feed stray cats but not take them in. I would assume that Greeks are unlikely to take in strays as well.

 

[emzie]

Caveat that this is NOT the case for the guy in the OP...

I think some in the rich first world (of which Greece is oddly a member, but not Albania) forget just how much of a danger a pack of feral dogs can be. We're so used to pet dogs, where abandoned dogs are picked up by a dog catcher and adopted out or euthanized behind closed doors. You know what you call a feral dog? A dingo. I have no problem with population control in that case, assuming it's as humane as is practical given the local economy (cops shooting them).

 

[NickyJ]

Spoiler :

I happened to read through an article on the Greek Yahoo news, and it was about an albanian man living in Greece who killed a dog with a hammer. He got sentenced to 9 months in prison.

Now i am not saying i find his behavior to be normal. Surely something is wrong with him to force him to commit such an act. But 9 months??? He was also fined 3000 euros.

Link to the article (which is in greek though) is http://news247.gr/ellada/eglima/9_m..._poy_skotwse_skulo_me_variopoula.1570827.html

I am thinking that if he is not imprisoned in a low security prison, he may come into contact with real criminals, and they would probably ruin his life far more than it was before his imprisonment. And i find it unfair. Sure, hitting a dog to its death with a hammer is not a pleasant act, but then again it was just some stray dog.

-What is your view of this? Was the sentencing fair? Should one serve jail time for acts of violence against animals?

Speaking as a pet owner and animal lover, I think the sentencing was fair.

I do not claim that the act was something good, it was horrible, and probably no one would want to have anything to do with that person.
Still, he is human, and his victim was a dog, furthermore a dog which was not someone's pet, therefore the damage ended on the actual non human creature, and did not carry through to humans as well.

And i would not really mind if he goes to some jail where he is left to ponder his act. But the greek jail system is already overcrowded so he may go to a high security one, and we all know what happens there. Is it fair that he will be possibly raped over the killing of a dog?

Whether he was a human and the dog was an animal makes no difference. It's still just as painful to be killed with a hammer. It's inhumane.

For instance there is nothing in the article to show that the man got some high from killing the dog. It is mentioned that the dog was in a way threatening his business

How was it threatening him? Surely him putting them in a fence isn't a threat to his life.

And although i already stated that i would never want to be friends with this person, i still think that human well-being > animal life.

How was human well-being at stake. I highly doubt that seeing three stray dogs is that dangerous. Also, I feel I should mention that while he was hitting the dogs with the hammer, he threatened bystanders that if they tried to intervene, he would use the hammer on them. Do you really see no problem with this?

What if the sentence of 9 months (as so often happens) is equal to utter destruction of one's life due to the conditions in the jail?

For 9 months are not that much, but 9 months in hell are an eternity.

I'll shed tears for him when the living being he killed does.

A mans life shoudln't be ruined because a stray dog died.

The scumbag ruined his own life.

I have seen a cow killed with a sledgehammer blow before, it was supposed to be the best way (it was a rural village in China). noone would mind it being done to cows or pigs right?

I would. It's one thing to make it quick, mostly painless death for something vital, such as cattle for food. To kill an innocent beings with hammers for no reason at all is simply wrong and immoral.

The problem is, nowadays lots of people CARE more about DOGS than their HUMAN neighbors...
I've seen this a lot - and such articles just prove it even more.
Horrible...
PERIOD.

So are you saying that we should congratulate him and give him a pat on the back for mindlessly killing animals and threatening his HUMAN neighbors?

Caveat that this is NOT the case for the guy in the OP...

I think some in the rich first world (of which Greece is oddly a member, but not Albania) forget just how much of a danger a pack of feral dogs can be. We're so used to pet dogs, where abandoned dogs are picked up by a dog catcher and adopted out or euthanized behind closed doors. You know what you call a feral dog? A dingo. I have no problem with population control in that case, assuming it's as humane as is practical given the local economy (cops shooting them).

Yeah, so maybe you should do something OTHER than killing the dogs with a hammer, and then threatening other people if they try to intervene?

Hypothetical: There is a criminal who knows where a gang of known kidnappers are. That criminal was captured, and is being interrogated. He refuses to tell where the hostages are. The only apparent way to get that information is by torturing him. A hammer is used on his hands, and eventually, he would give up the information.

Would there be outrage over that criminal being tortured, even though it was for something that may have saved peoples' lives? Of course there would be. And yet people still whine about how torturing innocent dogs who have done nothing shouldn't yield a simple fine and jail time.

 

[innonimatu]

Reading through this thread leaves me with no doubt that most humans are cruel, vindictive and fearful bastards. And that they will excuse all that through the idea of "justice". Oh, and "morals".

 

[Archbob]

I think the punishment for cruelty to animals should be that you must face a pack of wolves or a single grizzly bear in glorious hand to hand combat to the death.

 

[NickyJ]

I think the punishment for cruelty to animals should be that you must face a pack of wolves or a single grizzly bear in glorious hand to hand combat to the death.

Only if the bear has a hammer.

 

[MjM]

He should've got longer. What a sick bastard.

 

[FeelGood]

I believe he should be punished on case basis. And probably the judge is right and he's received a proper punishment. For me, stray dog is also a danger to human and killing them is acceptable provided in a proper manner especially since they might infect the victims with some diseases (rabies etc). I've had the bad experience with stray dogs. Really stray dog should be controlled (or killed)

 

[emzie]

Yeah, so maybe you should do something OTHER than killing the dogs with a hammer, and then threatening other people if they try to intervene?

Hypothetical: There is a criminal who knows where a gang of known kidnappers are. That criminal was captured, and is being interrogated. He refuses to tell where the hostages are. The only apparent way to get that information is by torturing him. A hammer is used on his hands, and eventually, he would give up the information.

Would there be outrage over that criminal being tortured, even though it was for something that may have saved peoples' lives? Of course there would be. And yet people still whine about how torturing innocent dogs who have done nothing shouldn't yield a simple fine and jail time.

What part of

Caveat that this is NOT the case for the guy in the OP...

did you not understand?

At no point did I say he shouldn't be punished, that the punishment is too severe or that what he did wasn't a big deal.