Cruelty Creep

Cruelty Creep

Man’s Ongoing Descent Into Chaos

Cruelty Creep – “People speak about the “bestial” cruelty of man, but that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts, no animal could ever be so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

If you read this profoundly wise statement by Dostoyevsky and really think about his words “so artfully – so artistically cruel” – it defines mankind’s behaviour unabashedly. We have perfected the art of cruelty and when we want to add another form of torture to our arsenal of obscenities we gleefully ratchet up the volume without a second thought.

The American Military is famous for its sayings. Most of us recognize the famous ones – Assume The Position – Collateral Damage – Cluster Fuck (I actually sort of like this one – it makes me think of politicians) – FUBAR – Ripped Fuel – Stay Frosty – Sand Bagger and Mission Creep.

The last one gave me the idea for this post about Cruelty Creep. Just as military missions start out with 100 soldiers and end up with thousands – cruelty and what we now accept as a new normal in cruelty to animals has expanded and continues to do so. We are so used to cruelty that it actually no longer even registers with most people. Cruelty is a vulgar – ever more ugly reality in our treatment of all sentient beings.

Why do we tolerate this? Most of us simply do NOT want to know. As long as we can pay others to do our bidding – as long as we can hide the cruelty behind closed doors and claim to be shocked when it is revealed to us – we are just fine with it. We claim to “love animals”. This always makes me smile. People say “I love animals so much – but I will never stop eating them. We need animal products to be healthy”. What they are really saying is they love their cat or dog and they are happy to let other people mutilate and murder the animals who produce the food they eat – the leather they wear and the fur that adorns their  clothing. 

We think we are superior and that animals have been put on the earth for our express use. End of story. We have no understanding of cruelty and suffering and no interest in knowing. People think that we are the “centre of the universe” and that all the resources of the Earth are here for the taking. Because we lack respect for the other creatures with whom we share the planet we do not care how they are treated. As the world population continues to explode – the extent of animal cruelty becomes more and more egregious. In the face of this brutality – people simply turn away.

Animal and environmental activists work every day to try to turn the tide of human aggression and apathy. We see countless examples of suffering that is so far beyond “extreme” that we need a new word.

In the context of “human behaviour” these things are acceptable. The punishment – if any – is trivial: 

A dog is tied behind an SUV and dragged for 8 miles.

A dog’s mouth is duct taped shut over a large package of fire crackers and then the fuse is lit. The participants laugh gleefully as the dog’s head explodes.

A cat is nailed to a post in a city square and skinned alive. People walk by unconcerned.

Stray dogs are killed in the street by forcing them to swallow acid.

Exhausted pack horses and donkeys collapse on work trails or in the street and are left to die.

Exotic snakes have hoses jammed down their throats – they are filled with water – left to suffer for 2-3 hours – and then it is easy to skin them alive. The discarded body can take 1 – 2 days to finally die.

Live cattle and sheep are shipped from Australia to the Middle East (with no food or water) where they are tortured and brutally killed with no stunning. Their eyes are often gouged out “just for fun and because they are easier to handle”.

Camels in China have all their legs chopped off at the knees to make them a “good begging animal”.

Cats, kittens and small dogs are put through the wash cycle in a washing machine as a lark.

A dog is buried alive – with only his head showing – and left to die in the woods.

Puppies have their ears cut off with razor blades.

Pigeons have their feet cut off so ignorant morons can laugh at them trying to stand on the remaining stumps.

Young teens chase a dog around an enclosed pasture in a Jeep and then run over it deliberately. The dog is still alive so they throw it over a barbed wire fence and leave it to die. They are laughing and hi-fiving the entire time.

A teenage girl sets her puppy on fire because it peed on the floor.

Two 12 years old boys pull the wings off of a barn yard chicken to see how long it will bleed.

A 7 year old boy throws his small dog into traffic repeatedly. A neighbour video tapes the cruelty but does nothing. The dog is finally struck and killed. The boy throws the dead dog into a ditch – then runs into his house and closes the door. The neighbour goes home. The incident was caught on a street camera.

This short video from Mercy For Animals Entitled “From Farm To Fridge” shows the grotesque reality of factory farming.

So as “cruelty creep” continues to make its way further and further into our cultural reality – what are you going to do to change things? Or do you plan to remain one of the faceless, countless, cowardly humans who just goes along to get along. If so – shame on you for your complacency and your acceptance of egregious cruelty and your appalling lack of kindness and compassion.

We will NEVER know peace as long as cruelty is allowed to flourish. 

The world – as we know it will end because people were just too damn lazy and self-absorbed to do anything about it. And then we will cry out and say “why didn’t someone do something” …