I am one of those guys who was taught as a kid to pop a cat if it was more than 100 yards from a farm (it was a common "rule" in the conservation clubs of the time) and I never felt too bad about hitting one with the car when I was in HS, but I never liked seeing them treated badly for the hell of it. The better type of farmers treated them as useful four-legged farm equipment, but only dogs were considered fit companions for the boys. That was how it was. A cat that killed generations of rats and mice was tolerated, but the dog that did nothing but occasionally bark at someone turning around at the end of the lane was somehow the most valuable quadruped ever. That was also how it was.
As an adult, I like cats and accept their eccentricities. A good cat who trusts me and decides to make me an honorary member of his species is an appreciated gift. Even today, though, I am considered not quite right by some people who dislike cats. I am frequently part of conversations where people slobber about dogs to the point of imbecility, yet when I mention cats they go full-blown Margaret Sanger on felines.
People are weird.
Gangs in apartment complexes liked to butch up by brutalizing animals, cats included. Same with suburban punks even if there wasn’t any gang around.
Glad times are changing on that!