I won't read that, I don't think we need to post how cruel people are to animals, this site is for how to love and nurture them, not how they get tortured. We can read how we do that to each other on CNN. I come here for advice and nice stories about our beloved furbabies.

You know I like you, Brutuses, but I can't read a post like this.

I totally agree, Michelle. I read the title last night and it haunted me all night. I am not going to read the article.

Only after I saw the thread about the cat killer in Florida thread, did I post this one. I notice you didn't mention anything to that poster. If I post something that you find offensive, please by all means report me to the moderator. I don't see anything anywhere that says what I posted was not allowed.

It was requested of me to post this article by others who saw it. All decent people are sickened, but not all of them turn their head and just hope it all goes away. They actually do something to help stop this type of brutality against animals.

Me, I turn my head and don't read it. I work in the mental healtlh field. Those who torture usually were badly abused. I am sad for the ruined life of the teen (because even if no one had learned of the kitten, we can guess that this boy's life was aready ruined by someone evil and cruel). I am sad for the suffering of the cat. I am sad for the suffering of forum members who did not want to read that graphic headline on thier favorite pets forum. I am sad that we are still so primitive a society that a boy can be abused enough that he becomes an abuser. I am sorry that our mental health problems are more often treated(not!) by prison guards than by those with the training and calling to help the mentally ill.

I try to change these conditions every day through love of others (especially the unlovable) and through gifting all I pass with some acknowlegment of their presence and worth. I try to change these conditions by how I vote and who I give my charitable money to.

There is not a lot I can do about an incident half a continent away that is being sensationalized by the press. Sensationalizing it will not prevent it or treat it. And, no, I did not read it, as I know that my attention to the story would not help. I can guess that the media is sensationalizing it simply by the fact that we found out about it here.

STOP READING if you don't want to read about more cruelty.

How about, "girl beaten and sodomized by her stepfather." (that was my friend, 40 years ago. She is the drunken drug addict who everyone thinks is crazy because of how she reacts to stress. After her brother tortured and killed her cat in front of her, it kinda made her soul a bit broken). Did you guys reading this help her? No. The love of friends and devotion of her Community Mental Health Team are what helped her heal enough that she can take her scarred face out in public again (sometimes when you have been tortured, you hate yourself so much that you pick your skin until it bleeds. Repeatedly. For several decades. The scars are kind of hard for children to look at.) My friend is no angel. She beat up an old man who took her in (when he was emotionally abusing her, but the cops would not have cared about how his words hurt, when her fists had blackened his face.)

Cruelty and Torture Begets Mental Illness! Is this is a surprise to anyone, really? REALLY?

Brutuses, the cat killer subject says just that, Cat Killer in Florida. No details. Those of us who can't cope with that sort of thing and don't want to read it have the choice to not open the post. There was no reason for you to post that horrific subject line. And you have no reason to scold anyone for not wanting to see this every time they open the pets forum. Many of us do plenty to help animals without having to be forced to read horrific abuse subjects.

Nancy, I only read the first part of your post and I disagree with you about all of these animal abusers being abused themselves. There are evil human beings out there who do terrible things because they are evil, not because of any mistreatment done to them.

f.y.i., this story is about a teenage GIRL, not a boy. it just goes to show you, not all of these people can be helped by love and therapy. some people, this girl being one of them, are simply born evil.

I am sorry that your world views include the concept that an infant can somehow be inherently evil. Neither of us can know for sure, since we do not intimately know the person who tortured the cat, but I stand by my bet that the teen has seen or experienced things that are cruel. I have not yet met a cruel person who did not experience cruelty when young.

No, I did not read the article, what is the point of doing so?

Some people are born defective, and will end up hurting others, regardless of how they are raised. Not all abused children abuse animals, it's still a choice. It is just not true that all children are born good and kind, and somehow ruined along the way. In some cases, sure, but certainly not in all cases.

nancy, if you think it isn't true, you are looking at the world through rose colored glasses.

i have worked with juvenile delinquents for many, many years. i can tell you, yes, some people are born evil. some of them are caught early, as this girl has been, some of them aren't caught until they become adult offenders.

As I said Petra, if I posted someting wrong then by all means bring it to the moderator's attention. You do not have the right to tell me what I can and cannot post.

The subject line is the heading of the story as I received it. I wanted people to know the subject matter and not have them open it and then realize they didn't care to read the story. No one likes to read these kinds of stories but some of us do so we can react or act upon the information given if it will help prosecute the perpetrator.

The title should identify what is included in the post. I've always posted my threads this way and yet after all this time you come along to tell me I've doing it all wrong. LOL

I am not telling you what you can and cannot post, I wrote there was absolutely no reason for you to post that horrific subject line.

Have a little sensitivity for other people's feelings. There is nothing wrong with posting a subject like "animal cruelty", or the wording the person posting about the cat killer in Florida used. That lets people know what the subject is, and also lets them decide if they can stomach reading it, without being punched in the gut with the details in the subject line.

Personally? I would prefer to see descriptive subject lines such as the one on this thread - knowing what "kind" of cruelty it is makes a difference for what my stomach and soul can handle and whether I skip on by without reading it. Pulling out a cat's whiskers with a pair of tweezers falls under the "animal cruelty" category, yet, while I find such behavior abhorrent, reading about a kitten baked alive creates much more discomfort for me. If the title of this thread simply said "animal cruelty," I wouldn't know what I was getting into without opening the thread. With the descriptive title at least I'm properly forewarned about the content.

In this case, if you read the subject, you don't need the content. The subject says it all, "baked alive". That is not a warning, that tells the whole story which, personally, I would rather not know about. Really, what more is there to read about once you read the subject?? If it said animal cruelty, those of us who can't handle animal cruelty stories can just choose not to open it. With this utterly horrible subject line, it doesn't matter. You know exactly what happened without even opening the post.

My mother refuses to discuss any subject that is not a happy one. I allow her that peccidillo since she just made 90 years of age.

Ignoring a distasteful subject helps promote such behavior. By writing letters/emails/supporting causes, we can try to change and prevent those behaviors.

But, you have to get dirty to get really clean.

"Only after I saw the thread about the cat killer in Florida thread, did I post this one. I notice you didn't mention anything to that poster."

Brutuses, I haven't been on this forum in over a month or so I believe, and your post was the first I came to. I would have said something to the other poster as well if I had seen it. It wasn't a personal attack at all.

Sorry, Michelle, I didn't mean to offend you, honest. There are some people on this forum who consistently make a big deal out of nothing, again and again and again and and it gets real tiring. I took out my frustration on you and I apologize.

Gee, in case that was directed at me, I don't recall making "a big deal out of nothing again and again and again". I guess objecting to a graphic subject is not allowed. Point taken, and leave taken.

I don't agree all babies are born good. I think evil exists without reason. Perfectly normal households have brought forth serial killers. I hate this kid for what he did and hope he gets the maximum punishment and publicity. He deserves to be locked away for a long time.

You can Google "Animal Abuse" every day and give us a story. You can watch Animal Cops and use the subject line to tell me what I missed because I didnÂt want to watch. IÂd tell you the one about what a man did to a dog a couple of days ago but I donÂt want everyone here to imagine the pain this animal endured in their mind, like I have to each time I read your subject line. If your subject line read "Kitten Abuse" it would give me the option to read or not read.

I didnÂt want to respond hoping your subject line would fall to the next page but I guess thatÂs not going to happen. Too bad "A little something to warm your heart" is going away first.

One very sick individual. Sadly cruelty happens a lot in this world. I believe God watches over his creatures and children. Someday that young lady will meet her maker.

i don't know if that's an old picture of her or if it's a picture taken AFTER she did this unthinkable thing but the smug look on her face makes me want to punch her lights out.