> I have a question for you two that can answer whether your pet attachments are unhealthy.
I’m not convinced your question will demonstrate anything of the sort, but give it your best shot.
> What would you do if you found your child beating a cat to death?
My children would never beat a cat to death because they have been brought up properly. If, however, I saw one of them mistreating an animal I would give the child a dam’n good spanking and a lesson on why we don’t mistreat animals. The offense would never be repeated.
> Would you want to put him in jail for 10 years in your benevolence or maybe castrate him? Some other torture you’re willing to engage in?
No, just normal parental disciplinary measures would be fine. They have not failed to work properly in the past and they would certainly work in this instance too.
Children have diminished responsibility by dint of their age, and parents have the responsibility to ensure that they learn right from wrong.
Adult sociopaths who kick or beat animals to death have no such diminished responsibility: true, their parents share their blame because they probably didn’t raise them right. But they are adults and ought to be given an adult punishment befitting of a low and contemptible bully that beats cats to death. Stringing the offender up by the nuts sounds about right.
There is no fair moral comparison between what children do when they misbehave and what adult sociopaths do because they are adult sociopaths. Your attempt to equate the two is quite frankly bizarre.
You mentioned spanking your child...would you ever beat/spank you pet?