ufoclub said:

not kidding. it is horrible and disgusting but is it really a crime? (oh and I was abused)

Yes, I'd say it's actually child abuse in the form of forcing the will of an underage dependent to inflict agrravated cruelty to a domesticated, dependent animal kept as a pet. So I, as well as other hair challenged primates on this brief planet, judge it punishable by the law we make up as a society refining species.

So in your personal case of abuse, do you feel it was against the law?

Before I opened the link I thought to myself, "I bet these people are from down South".

And whad'ya know - they live in Georgia.

Before I opened the link I thought to myself, "I bet these people are from down South".

And whad'ya know - they live in Georgia.

ufoclub said:

I am separating the child abuse aspects with the killing of the hamster. I do not think killing the hamster should be a crime. I do not know what impact it had on the kid. And even if it was, I am not sure that it should be a crime. It is worth looking into this woman to see if other abuse existed, but as a stand alone event I would be hard to convince it was worthy of a criminal punishment.



Yeah I do. But repeated beatings for years is not the same as an apparent isolated case. If this is part of a pattern then I would re think this.

Why would I be kidding?

Do you think the animals the kid has been most likely eating on a daily basis were specifically asking to get killed? How would it be that different from kids who go fishing with their parents? After you've caught the fish, you're basically supposed to club it to death in most cases. In many cultures, kids are taught to slaughter animals very early on and the same still takes place on farms in the Western countries as well. So, "animal cruelty" seems to apply only when the animal is a cute, furry thing that can be kept also as a pet. Kids kill animals all the time themselves as well - birds, rodents, you name it. You can constantly find small animals being stoned to death by kids where I live.

So getting arrested for instructing a child to kill an animal is pretty shaky. Furthermore, questioning law enforcement practices and their lack of logic has nothing to do with compassion. The mother who did this seems to be quite clearly disturbed, but this incident also seems to be one of those cases where it appears to be conceptually more eyebrow-raising than what it actually is when viewn more neutrally. It is of course a very good indication that she might not be fit as a parent, but taking legal action would preferably demand something else than just that.
[Edited 1/23/10 6:55am]

... typical potty training methods parents use every day probably leave more emotional scars than this.