Not trying to put anyone here on blast because I'm guilty of it too, but.....
People always react to animal stuff like this with horror and sometimes even get angry or emotional about it. Meanwhile, horrible things happen to human beings and we react to it like it's a big joke. People are getting their fucking heads sawed off on video and we are apathetic. Young girls in the middle east are getting tortured, ass-raped, and beaten to death and nobody gives a fuck. We joke and make smart comments about it on message boards like it's not real.
As a country(USA) and as a planet I feel like we have lost perspective on the value of human life. I'm not sure how to get it back and I think this is at the root of a lot of our societal problems right now. I'm not for abusing animals, I think that's disgusting and cowardly, but compared to what's going on in the world right now with humans, it's insignificant. We all need to pull our heads out of our asses and start dealing with reality. Time to get serious. I'd rather watch porn and play video games too but enough is enough.
One point you made about the value of human life made me consider the possibility that this is at the core of the problem. It is a real possibility that many humans don't place a very high value on human life unless it is their own life or that of someone they love. Honestly, blame the media for this. We are inundated with videos of the horrors you speak of. We are probably numbed by this as well as overwhelmed to the degree that we must minimize these events in our minds by making ourselves feel remote from them. It is a sad state of affairs.
It is difficult to imagine that dogs, cats and other abused animals deserve the abuse. This however does not keep some folks from trying to shift the blame by pointing out that some pets, particularly dogs can be vicious and have been know to attack and even kill humans, often defenseless children.
I doubt I will ever become indifferent to animal abuse.
In case you didn't notice, some folks have managed to make a joke out of this thread. Interesting diversion tactic....and pathetic too.