It's funny and ironic because I've heard "some" people (those who aren't so crazy about animals) criticize pet and animal lovers about how they seem to care MORE about animals than humans--that they raise more of a fuss or take more immediate action when they hear that a cat has been abused than when a child has been abused. This is a ridiculous claim. *NO* living creature, animal or human, deserves to be treated cruelly or tortured. I think any person with a heart, or who can experience empathy, would raise an alarm and act when any horrible abuse or murder is discovered. It is our responsibility as a civilized society not to let such occurrences be ignored--what if it happened to one of us and no one bothered to care or to come to our rescue? We also have a responsibility to show the offenders that what they did is morally WRONG and they should be punished. Of course not to the extent that the offenders' lives or futures are ruined (although sometimes we may wish that deep down!), but they should know that there is a serious penalty for such offensive and unacceptable behavior.

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]Margaret