http://www.edmontonsun.com/Comment/Commentary/2008/01/08/pf-4758039.html
January 8, 2008
Attack sparks huge howls of outrage
By ANDREW HANON

If it hasn't already been asked, you're guaranteed to hear someone ask soon: Why do people react so violently to tales of cruelty to animals?

The reaction to news of a cat being stuffed into a microwave and cooked to death in Camrose over the holidays evoked the expected response.

Howls of outrage and calls for swift and severe punishment for those responsible echoed across the nation.

Threats against the four teenage boys accused of the barbaric act surfaced on the Internet within hours.

Some called for "street justice" against the boys while others felt the only suitable punishment for anyone found guilty of such a crime is for the perpetrators themselves to be microwaved - an eye for an eye.

Local police were forced to threaten prosecution against people who published the names of the suspects, a clear no-no under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

It was a similar situation last year in southern Alberta, where a man was accused of tying a dog to the bumper of his pickup and dragging it to death.

The response to animal torture is visceral - and it's often so extreme that it defies explanation.

Normally quiet, retiring people can become howling banshees of outrage when they hear of a cat, dog or other creature being sadistically victimized.

Perhaps it's because pets' love, trust and dependence on humans is so total and unconditional that it's inconceivable for normally functioning people to imagine getting any pleasure from betraying that relationship for sick entertainment.

It could be because, while pets can be noisy, messy or destructive, they never do anything out of malice or cruelty - much like human babies.

Maybe it's because psychologists warn that people who torture animals often graduate to victimizing humans - that it's a red flag warning of potential future crimes.

Whatever the reason, there's no doubt that the Camrose cat-killing case has touched a very sensitive nerve with Albertans, and indeed all Canadians.