8 upvotes, 0 direct replies (showing 0)
View submission: Dear Internet Vigilantes and Lynch Mobs
I think it goes beyond protecting collateral damage towards the wrongly accused.
I should start by saying I understand where everyone is coming from in regard to their disgust at the video of the Bosnian girl throwing puppies into a river. I have been an animal lover for as long as I can remember and I could never make any excuse for her actions. Something else bothers me nearly as much though; the death threats aimed towards this girl. Perhaps it is because of anonymity or perhaps it is some mob like kneejerk reaction spurred by a contagious rage, but when did we all start taking the “lame horse” approach towards kids? I suppose a man I met in college has shaped my opinion on the matter a bit (especially with regards to children and animal cruelty).
He was in his late 30’s and we were taking a photography class together. He had some great shots of animals so I commented on them and we got to talking which led to him telling me a story. He told me about a time when he was younger and living in (if I remember correctly) Venezuela. He was about 12 or so and with a group of friends. They decided on a whim to grab a stray cat, place it in a pillow case and beat it against cars, walls, etc until it died. While he was telling me this he was visibly embarrassed by his involvement in this and still could not come up with any reasoning for his actions. Of course, I cannot dismiss this as kids being kids. It is an awful thing to do and when I was his age there is no way I could have preformed the same horrible acts. But he is not an awful person. In fact, he has always been haunted by the fact that he could do something so awful and has adopted many animals since then. He was never punished for his actions, never had his life threatened by thousands of people. His actions were never met with anything but the laughter of his friends, yet he is not the same person. His regret of his actions grew from within and that is the part that sticks with me.
I know we are told that anyone who kills/tortures animals as a child is likely to grow up to become a serial killer, but to follow this assumption of how someone will turn out in adulthood due to their actions as a child unquestioningly is a dangerous stance to take. I cannot excuse this girls actions and I believe that if she is caught she should be punished to the extent of the law. But to call for harm to come to her or to harass her endlessly is far from an appropriate response. Personally I think mandating her to volunteer at some type of animal rescue center be in order along with what the law imposes for animal cruelty. It is easy to think of this girl as some agent of murder who will spend the rest of her life walking the streets looking for puppies to drown because this video is most likely all any of us will ever see of her.
This will never be seen but that will probably save me some down-votes due to its content.
TL;DR: Horrible actions do not guarantee a horrible person.
There's nothing here!