This article makes me nearly cry, and it makes me also feel hate the man who did it, though I try not to feel hate. I don't know what his sentence should be, but I think it should be harsher. Also, I think he should have to give a percent of his salary to PETA or an animal shelter for a period of time (as in, years).
It's an interesting point about how we feel differently about dogs than we do about pigs and cows. I think it boils down to whether the animal is domesticated or not. If it is domesticated, I feel a far greater emotional attachment. While ethically, it probably should be the same (unless animals develop a higher sentience if they're domesticated), emotionally it's not.
Like Newby, I feel more sad over this story than I would over a random murder in the paper. Of course, if it is a friend of mine or someone I know that dies, I would be really sad. But the difference in my feelings over the murder of a strange animal and a strange human being is interesting. I think it has to do with the innocence I perceive of animals. I don't perceive human beings as being nearly as innocent. For instance, while I sometimes view human beings as stupid or unethical, etc., I never view an animal that way.
Insects are just a completely different case. I don't believe them to be very intelligent and sentient, so while I think that we should respect them and that killing them is wrong, I don't think it's nearly as tragic as killing an animal of higher intelligence like a dog.
