Was it reasonable for this person to act as he did, or was it unacceptable?

[Burgerberg]

Was reading through this news article and was wondering your thoughts. Reading through some of the comments, the impression I am getting is either people are jumping to quick conclusions and didn't read the article in its entirety, or are too ignorant to see the link between torturing animals and violence to human beings. Or are psychopaths themselves. I was actually surprised with the amount of indifferent, hateful, scornful people. How is torturing a larger mammal, fundamentally, worse than torturing a small one? Isn't it the same thing? They're both mammals, they can feel pain. Rats are rather intelligent too. Put "cat" or "dog" in it's place then 80% of the people who says "who cares" would want his head. It's rather ridiculous. Here are some of the more dominating viewpoints from the people who seem to condone such behaviour:

Ummm it's a RAT!! What's the problem? Rats are a nuisance. They carry disease and infest homes. Maaann, let that man go & quit wasting our time and money on bs!

Yeah, what's the problem of cutting the ears and tails off a helpless animal while it's still living and breathing. Definitely standard procedure in pest control.

Well they might as well arrest everyone who buys a mouse trap or rat poison...What a waste of tax payer money...Really...!!!

Cos legit ways to remove pests is the same as wanting to torture something and put it on YT for lulz...

I am sure it's no worse than the testing that goes on in labs and cosmetic companies

I suppose no regulations, ethics committees and anaesthesia exist in medical research. They just sit around, torturing animals for a laugh despite doing such a thing would severely fuck up any results. Okay...

Soo its "illegal" to kill rodents and this man gets punished this is b.s! But its not illegal to call a pest control. There's other more things to worry about, paedophiles, gun violence etc.

I guess the police should ignore CCTV videos of people getting assaulted because there's more things to worry about, like murder, rape, etc. The police clearly shouldn't act on direct evidence to an illegal activity, even though it might be relatively minor. Great logic brah.

I'm not supporting what this man did, I'm definitely against abuse of animals like dogs and cats but rats and mice people?? Really??

Apparently the only animals that exist as far as cruelty goes are dogs and cats, never mind the fact that a mouse and rat are mammals and would feel pretty much the same thing.

Anyone who defends rats against rat killer/torturers are idiots. Those nasty creatures deserve whatever death they get. Why is he apologizing for how he killed, none needed. The authorities are idiots for wasting taxpayer dollars on this. When rodents like possums or whatever invaded my space I let my sons burn, bash gut them whatever it took to keep the Lil nasty things away. Nah runteldat! Better yet let them run through where u live!

What a piece of work this person is. I think taxpayer money would be better spent on castrating her sons, and sending her to a mental asylum. And a textbook while she's there, to learn that possums are NOT rodents.

Seriously it was a rat....no one likes rats. A rat is NOT an animal or anything anyone wants near them.

Another person who needs a textbook. I guess rats are some sort of mystical mushroom that moves and squeaks. PS. I like rats so fuck this guy.

[Tradewind]

His last name is Semens and I lost it.

huehuehuehue

[OneSent]

His last name is Semens and I lost it.

Same, haha!

Anyways, I detest the idea of animal torture and even the whole "rat experimentation" thing. Much of what those scientist do is equally as cruel. Rats may seem small and insignificant to our all-important human selves, but that doesn't mean they are incapable of feeling excruciating pain in the same way we do.

Just for shits and giggles, I would be curious to know if these "rats are pests and deserve what they get" kind of people would feel the same way if an alien civilization invaded Earth and started experimenting on and torturing us. Clearly, their argument should still hold true, would it not?

[Fargus]

Anyways, I detest the idea of animal torture and even the whole "rat experimentation" thing. Much of what those scientist do is equally as cruel. Rats may seem small and insignificant to our all-important human selves, but that doesn't mean they are incapable of feeling excruciating pain in the same way we do.

Please let us know which scientist cuts the ears off a lab rat with no anaesthetic and posts it on YouTube. Either there's zero regulation where they come from, or they'd be out of a job.

Anyway, anyone who said they're insignificant simply have no grasp of how the food chain works, or any grasp that most medications they've used in their lifetimes comes from animal experimentation. People should be thanking their sacrifice, just because they can live longer and have more comfortable lives. This is why I think we at least owe it to them not to brutalise or abuse them. Actually when you think about it, it should be common sense not to brutalise anything.

[Angus The Puncher]

Pests or not an animal is still an animal and should not be tortured. If you are going to kill them at least do it humanely. I find some people to be pests does that mean it is okay to torture them?

[Itisamuh]

I won't even torture bugs, and I hate them. I kill most of them on sight, but if one lives beyond the first hit and suffers, I'll feel like crap for a while. There's no excuse to torture any living creature, ever. Pests can be dealt with in more efficient, humane ways, and that's how it should always be. So yeah, I'd say he was punished in a fitting way.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Same, haha!

Anyways, I detest the idea of animal torture and even the whole "rat experimentation" thing. Much of what those scientist do is equally as cruel. Rats may seem small and insignificant to our all-important human selves, but that doesn't mean they are incapable of feeling excruciating pain in the same way we do.

At least the lab rats are tested on for a purpose, instead of "OMG THIS IS SO FUN! LOOK AT THE RAT SQUIRM IN PAIN AS I SLOWLY PULL IT APART!!!".

[Nirawen]

No, I think he's an abhorrent cunt. I get almost irrationally angry when it comes to animal cruelty so I'd probably be ok with some pretty over-the-top punishments.

[Deleted]

Couldn't agree more on your starting post Heidelstein.

Alot of ppl probaly never thought about that we´r not that much different of animals.
We are all sentient beings, living together on this world.
It shouldn't make a difference on how small, big, intelligent or dangerous we are, we all feel the same pain.

Perhaps its because we have created a very over complicated world for us self that alot of us don't have time to reflect on these things.
Completely clueless about it or just senseless.
I find very interesting to see how ppl post their opinions about how worthless some animals are.
What if the tables are turned?, and they´r the rats.
I wonder what ppl would say then.

[AeneasBK]

*shrug* We don't exactly teach that rats are a life form on an equal footing with other rodents let alone other mammals let alone humans. I'm not disagreeing with the main feels of this thread; but really, this guy needs help not punishment.

[Korrawi]

when I was a kid, I used to rip legs/wings etc off bugs, flies and small insects; burn insects, with a magnifying glass or with fire. I remember once we dissected a frog with a piece of glass as a scalpel.
Was no more than 5 or 6 years old.
I would not do those things now, I dunno why I did them back then, perhaps curiosity.
That said, I don't see the point in torturing animals. If you want to kill them, do it as fast and painless as possible; what kind of animal it is should not count.
my2c.

[Nirawen]

but really, this guy needs help not punishment.

I don't see the two as mutually exclusive in this case, I'd say he needs both.

[Eroginous]

Was reading through this news article and was wondering your thoughts. Reading through some of the comments, the impression I am getting is either people are jumping to quick conclusions and didn't read the article in its entirety, or are too ignorant to see the link between torturing animals and violence to human beings. Or are psychopaths themselves. I was actually surprised with the amount of indifferent, hateful, scornful people. How is torturing a larger mammal, fundamentally, worse than torturing a small one? Isn't it the same thing? They're both mammals, they can feel pain. Rats are rather intelligent too. Put "cat" or "dog" in it's place then 80% of the people who says "who cares" would want his head. It's rather ridiculous. Here are some of the more dominating viewpoints from the people who seem to condone such behaviour:

I think he should lose his job and probably pay a fine to the city. It's one thing to kill a rat and mouse on accident while doing your job. It's another thing entirely to kill them on purpose, let alone torture them. That shows someone who clearly doesn't take his job seriously, someone who is willing to screw around on the job and be negligent.

On the other hand, if he were doing this on his own time (torturing rats and mice), I would likely seek criminal animal abuse charges, if it were an ongoing thing. Sure, they are rats and mice, that doesn't make them any less of an animal or make it okay to torture them. For me, it's the whole 'was working and torturing animals' thing.

If what he's accused of is true, he's definitely guilty.

[draganid]

i almost wept for humanity after reading some of those comments. are people really that stupid to not see the bigger picture? people who torture and kill animals for fun will sometimes move on to doing it to people...

[Fargus]

i almost wept for humanity after reading some of those comments. are people really that stupid to not see the bigger picture? people who torture and kill animals for fun will sometimes move on to doing it to people...

People are so self centred that they do not, and only think about themselves.

[Radio]

Torture + Exhibitionism = Punishment

Rats/Mice are perfectly capable of being great domestic pets just like cats or dogs, and there is never a need to put an animal through that kind of treatment.

[Xeones]

This guy needs a court ordered psychological evaluation, if they show he is likely a psychopath he needs to have life long monitoring. This guy is a serial killer waiting to happen. Rats are actually surprisingly intelligent, torturing them is horrifying to me. They are literally on my top 5 pets list.

[OzoAndIndi]

If he wants to kill rodents, then work as an exterminator. There's definitely a line between getting rid of pests and torturing a living creature because you find a sort of sick pleasure in it. Even if you hate rats it's easy to be horrified by that kind of behavior because of what it really suggests about the person doing it. It's people like that who need to be noticed and kept an eye on, lest they eventually move on to harming their own kind... o.O

Edit... Pests, getting rid of pests, not pets. o.O

[Wixwix]

tl;dr please

[NuLogic]

That guy has problems. He needs some help asap.