Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I'm curious as to how many other people get more riled up from animal cruelty than human cruelty, as I do. After reading through the reads in the off topic section on ISIS and the attacks in France last week, I decided, for some reason, to scour the internet looking for photos and videos of what happened. Naturally, this search took me to a gore website, and while perusing I came across an animal cruelty video that really got under my skin. Much moreso than any of the other content I found on executions, beatings, and the myriad of other things they have on those websites.

This is not to say I am totally unaffected by human cruelty. I really feel for mistreated people and those who are wrongfully killed, but my reaction to animal cruelty is much more intense. I get very, very angry. To the point that I think if I were in the room when these incidents occurred, I would absolutely lose my gak and beat the crap out of whichever douche was getting his jollies off abusing or killing animals. I think a lot of it boils down to my feelings on how innocent animals are, and that they just wouldn't know why this is happening to them.

Half the reason I'm writing this is because I'm hoping getting it down will somehow make me feel better. At the end of the day, some pretty terrible gak happens in the world and there's nothing I can do about it. Just have to take comfort in the knowledge that for every sicko who gets off on violence, there are thousands of good people in the world.

Both get under my skin.

Of course with animal cruelty there is also a lot of people crying Wolf with claims of it so I tend to ignore most of the mewling regarding it.

Both seem to affect me in the same way.

But yeah, I've already noticed a lot of people reacting more to animal cruelty than human cruelty.

 LethalShade wrote:
Both seem to affect me in the same way.

But yeah, I've already noticed a lot of people reacting more to animal cruelty than human cruelty.

Indeed. I have met people who genuinely value animal life over human life, they're scary people.

Animal cruelty gets to me a bit more because unlike a person an animal can't do much to speak out for itself. A human can fight back, raise a fuss, tell other humans, and usually those humans will do something to try and help. Animals don't have the communication skills.

Humans are valued more highly than animals in my book of course, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with treating another living thing like a... thing.

 LordofHats wrote:

Humans are valued more highly than animals in my book of course, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with treating another living thing like a... thing.

Treating animals like objects isn't synonymous with being cruel. You can objectify something without causing it harm when its not a human.

I've always seen people torturing animals (not hunting/killing of livestock, people actually doing if for fun) as if they were torturing little children.

 LordofHats wrote:
Animal cruelty gets to me a bit more because unlike a person an animal can't do much to speak out for itself. A human can fight back, raise a fuss, tell other humans, and usually those humans will do something to try and help. Animals don't have the communication skills.

It's the same reason why reading "2 year old beat to death" bothers people a lot more than "22 year old beat to death".

 Grey Templar wrote:


Treating animals like objects isn't synonymous with being cruel. You can objectify something without causing it harm when its not a human.

Treating them like a living thing isn't the same as being a bleeding heart.

I like meat. I like medical treatments that haven't been haphazardly tested on people when we could test them on monkey's first. I enjoy pets.

All those things can exist without reducing animal life to meager commodity. Just because we're gonna eat that cow for dinner eventually doesn't mean we can't treat it well, and jesus if we're testing AIDs medications on Chimpanzees, can we have a little perspective on what that animal is about to go through? AIDs sucks XD At least take it out to dinner first. Nice banana, a trip to the tire swing

It's the same reason why reading "2 year old beat to death" bothers people a lot more than "22 year old beat to death".

Also true.

Of course we shouldn't be unnecessarily cruel. But emotional attachments aren't the best thing to have with certain animals with a predestined fate.

You probably shouldn't become friends with the Chimp that you infected with AIDs to test medication. Or at least not to where you have issues with what you are going to do and what is going to happen.

I raised pigs for the better part of a decade in 4-h. They were awesome pets, very fun to play and hang out with. And I had no issues when they became delicious bacon.

 Grey Templar wrote:

You probably shouldn't become friends with the Chimp that you infected with AIDs

Depends on the way you infected it.

(I'm sorry )

ROFL

Reminds me of the theory that AIDs originated in Chimpanzees, and the implications in just how that crossed the species barrier

 Grey Templar wrote:
ROFL

Reminds me of the theory that AIDs originated in Chimpanzees, and the implications in just how that crossed the species barrier

Humans consuming Chimpanzee flesh ? What did you expect, you weirdo ?

I'd rather call what I'd like to see respect for life, rather than a demand that Boris the Bull be a rancher's best friend. I don't really expect that. It's a cow not a 26 year old rodeo clown (ranchers have rodeo clowns for friends right?). There's a place though where we can respect that something is alive and, however rudimentary they may be, does have some feelings.

 LethalShade wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
ROFL

Reminds me of the theory that AIDs originated in Chimpanzees, and the implications in just how that crossed the species barrier

Humans consuming Chimpanzee flesh ? What did you expect, you weirdo ?

It was 14 year old me who had this idea.

 LordofHats wrote:
Animal cruelty gets to me a bit more because unlike a person an animal can't do much to speak out for itself. A human can fight back, raise a fuss, tell other humans, and usually those humans will do something to try and help. Animals don't have the communication skills.

Same, and the reason I dislike child abusers alot. Animals, especially if you have a pet, look up to you, they are an innocent thing that you decided to look after, and you decide to bet it.

No, animal cruelty doesn't bother me nearly as much as cruelty to other humans, and I've always been somewhat disdainful of the people who wish things like torture and violent death on people who abuse animals (prison, sure. ass-beatings, absolutely).

But at the end of the day, both acts are utterly repulsive and should be treated as such.

I don't know. Some people just really seem to need a solid punch to the jaw. As intelligent as humans can be, there's a case to be made that some failures are too face palm inducing



Seriously bro... What are you doing?

Animal cruelty is way worse for me. There a 7 billion humans in the world and saying that cruelty to us is worse than cruelty to species like tigers and chimps that are almost extinct. Both are pretty bad though.

 LordofHats wrote:
I don't know. Some people just really seem to need a solid punch to the jaw. As intelligent as humans can be, there's a case to be made that some failures are too face palm inducing



Seriously bro... What are you doing?

He's nicely removing himself from the Human gene-pool. How courageous

With the possible exception of dogs - since they evolved alongside us - animal suffering affects me much less than human suffering.

I'm definitely more affected by animal cruelty. I love to see animals in the wild and have a job where I'm in people's homes and get to pet their pets. Mostly I am glad to see any animals I encounter.

People on the other hand, usually make me sick. Some don't and I enjoy the novelty of it, but the general public just makes me seeth.

Animals are truly innocent, like small children. Either of these enduring cruelty really gets me angry.

Both make me deeply unhappy, but it's easier to immediately engage and pity something with perceived innocence (a child, a pet, an animal, an elderly person).

I don't value those lives above others, but I think for someone to victimise the innocent, they are acting in a more predatory and disturbed fashion.

No.

Altough it heavily depends on what animal. I normally do not care much for animals, but I am really, really fond of dogs. So people being cruel to dogs does get to me, more than many cases of people being cruel to other (adult) people.

 LordofHats wrote:
I don't know. Some people just really seem to need a solid punch to the jaw. As intelligent as humans can be, there's a case to be made that some failures are too face palm inducing



Seriously bro... What are you doing?

Meanwhile, in Russia...

Depends on the people, There certainly are people I would like to suffer hell on earth for an eternity and people that are nothing but oxygen thieves. Animals are different as they cannot, really, willingly do stuff.

Cruelty towards other humans is always much worse.

Unless you're a fairly strict vegetarian, you have to accept that your lifestyle results in suffering and distress for animals. I've worked in a slaughterhouse, and I don't buy the whole "Oh they're totally killed humanely!"

I've also worked on farms, and farm animals comfort is not the first thing farmers worry about.

It also irritates me that people have more empathy for charismatic species than ugly ones. I find people being more upset by animal cruelty than torture of humans pretty weird to be honest and I consider it a symptom of being too far away from your food chain.

the thirteenth praetorian wrote:
Animal cruelty is way worse for me. There a 7 billion humans in the world and saying that cruelty to us is worse than cruelty to species like tigers and chimps that are almost extinct. Both are pretty bad though.

Thats pretty disgusting dude. Humans > animals and always will be. Even if its an endangered species. And I don't think Chimps are in danger of going extinct, at worst they'll become a species that is only present in captivity. Same with Tigers actually as they breed well in captivity.

Besides, its not like anything we humans do comes even close to what animals do to each other. They don't kill each other with even a pretext of being humane, predators will sometimes begin eating their prey before its even dead. And that's usually after scaring it half to death by chasing it down. Heck, the Komodo Dragon hunts its prey by biting it so its gets a nasty infected wound and then follows it around as it dies a slow agonizing death over several weeks.

Never heard of an animal killing another animal because it was a different color. Animals kill out of necessity. they eat their kills. We just kill because of any number of ridiculously petty reasons.

No. Which isn't to say I'm a fan of either but human suffering is a far greater evil in mind. The distance is so great the two aren't even really comparable to me. Human lives, and human well being are just that more important.

 LordofHats wrote:
I don't know. Some people just really seem to need a solid punch to the jaw. As intelligent as humans can be, there's a case to be made that some failures are too face palm inducing



Seriously bro... What are you doing?

Darwinism in action