When is it defined as animal cruelty?

I think that people want to see "food animals" as being somehow different than cats and dogs so that they can continue to eat them without guilt. It's hypocritical denial, pure and simple. They justify it in all sorts of ways like "it's OK because that's what they're made for". But anyone with eyes and a heart can see that a cow or pig is just as feeling as a dog as, and often just as smart. To acknowledge that the meat industry is animal abuse would challenge very engrained beliefs in our way of life, and would affect many jobs, so that is another reason people have a mental block against caring about farm animals. Quite sad, I think. The world could use a lot more kindness towards all animals.

As a vegetarian, and animal lover, I have to say I agree with you. Living ceatures are living creatures, whatever their breed or species. One thing that a;ways makes me smile (in an ironic way), is when people here throw up ther arms in horror over the eating or song birds, and horse meat in some countries. OK - of course I hate it too, but where is the inherant difference between a horse, and a cow when it comes to eating? So many people say the are animal lovers and adore their cute puppies, and kittens (I love my cats too!), but they will happily eat the flesh of another creature that has been bred in captivity, and kept in dreadful conditions just to feed them, when they can be just as healthy without it! Very strange!

I feel badly for all animals that are mistreated- I was watching Dirty Jobs and the guy was feeding pigs- and I felt so bad for these pigs there like 10 of them in these tiny pens, ihad to turn it off, it was so upsetting. I know people need to eat but it still bothers me to see that. I eat little to no meat and when I think about what I'm eating sometimes (chicken - steak -whatever) I can't eat it- so now I have to take vitamins to get the essentials (like iron) I miss from not eating meat

according to wikepedia.org: Cruelty to animals refers to treatment or standards of care that causes unwarranted or unnecessary suffering or harm to animals. Standards of both animal cruelty legislation, and enforcement, can vary between different places from non existent through to comprehensive, and the acts and conditions which are deemed "cruel" also vary. Opinions are divided whether practices such as factory farming, fur farming or animal testing of medical and other products (including medical research involving animals) is cruel or not, with strong views on the side of both animal welfare and pragmatism and necessity. Many people regard cruelty to animals as a major moral issue. Cases in which cruelty to animals is due to a deliberate wish to be cruel (as opposed to neglect), are known as zoosadism, and have been repeatedly linked via research with abuse and cruelty to people (including the more sensationalist examples of torture and killing). In such extreme cases cruelty to animals may also have occurred, as a "rehearsal" or as an aspect of development. As for me.. any deliberate acts of harm to animal is cruelty.

That's a good question, I don't know why people don't talk about how animals are kept in cages. I think a great example of animal cruelty is my neighbor has his poor dog outside in this freezing cold weather. And the poor thing keeps barking/pleading to let him in. It's not right.

annimals are equal with our human beings. they lack something we call labor and wisdom to creat the things to meet their daily function. so why not just treat our animals in a more decent way?

At the moment our human world is based on the suffering and destruction of millions of non-humans. All the arguments to prove man's superiority can not shatter this hard fact: In suffering, the animals are our equals.Killing an animal is not the same thing as mowing the grass. A life ends. "A hamburger stops a beating heart"

hi there. I think that so many people would decide not to eat factory farmed meat if they had any idea of the cruelty involved. The way that meat and meat products are marketed (remember McDonalds hamburger patch?!) is such that the reality is very far from most people's minds. Also, people don't know what the character of a food animal is like because most people have never lived with them, so when we see images of chickens being tossed, alive into bins for gassing, with broken wings and legs, we don't bat an eyelid as we can't imagine how needlessly cruel this is - however if the same were to be done to cats/dogs we would of course be outraged as it is quite common to keep such animals in the home. I believe that pigs are on a similar level of intelligence as dogs yet it is standard to keep sows confined and incarcerated after they have their young, unable to move very much, restrained by metal bars. Piglets are routinely docked of their tails and sometimes their teeth...but nobody really cares as most of us eat meat and quite like it.

i feel that people are following the system which ther ancestors had developed. They have developed a feeling that Certain animals are not meant to be eaten whereas the others are a matter of choice for different people.

Please define these conditions. I used to work with a woman whose hubby was a veal farmers, I had heard about the horrible conditions, she invited me to their farm. The barns were immaculate, they were temperature and humidity controlled. Heat in the winter, AC in the summer. The animals were clean and well fed. The veal calves were walked several times a day. Their was classical music piped in. Maybe their farm was the exception, but I myself found nothing that I expected.

Actually there is, a friend of mine was a veal farmer and one time I saw a show on TV about it and she took me to her farm. The animals were given high quality food, the barns were immaculate, they had climate control and were washed 4 times a day when the calves were taken for a stroll around the grounds. the calves were cleaned and brushed daily.

well the animals are bred to be slaughtered but they will have to be bred in healthy condition or else no one will buy a sick animal's meat. So if they live in poor conditions, then it is also animal cruelty plus health hazard for humans. These breeders usually lost their license after FDA visit. All we need to do is report them and FDA will pay them a visit

Well i think that animal cruelty begins when you trespass the line of what we could define as "animal dignity". Such dignity obviously cannot be compared to human dignity, but it is important as well and should not be violated freely like in fact is often nowadays. Causing innecesary and deliberate pain and suffering to a creature is bad, and lowers down to the person that is doing such terrible things. And no, i don't make distinctions among animals...for me it's equally bad no matter if you do it with a rat or with a dog. Thing is, that we're used to being around certain animals, and when they're our pets we develop feelings for them, so it's easier to feel empathy for a dog than for a badger, for example.

Maybe it is because the cats and dogs are domestic animals which are reared to accompany but not reared for food. Hence, humans show more compassion for them. However, i know that if people are shown the pictures of how the animals are treated before they end up on their dinner plate, i'm sure there would be a equally huge outcry. Therefore, i blamed it squarely on the media. Cats and dogs abuse are more publicised than maybe pigs and cows abuse.