[bee warrior]

There are 2 definitions of excuse, one is given falsely(i.e. trying to get away with it) as a reason for doing something, and the other is a reason given genuinely (wrongly or rightly) for doing something - Im working on the 'excuse' given (rightly or wrongly) for doing something.

Of course not all children who had abusive or violent upbringings abuse animals. Elements of my own childhood were not particularly pleasant and I love animals, nature is what sustains me. I have never abused animals. I am an individual just like everyone else and we all deal with things in different ways.

Perhaps it would be useful to differentiate between psychopaths and damaged people. Psychopaths have no empathy or conscience and perhaps these people cannot be treated-and perhaps they should be locked up and the key thrown away-they are often the same people we have historically voted to run countries.

But perhaps there really are damaged people out there who could be helped and stopped from continuing the cycle of abuse. The perpetrator we are discussing in this thread, I doubt will be locked up for this crime - we do not value non-human life enough. What we will do is wait for him to carry out a crime towards a person (accepting he may grow out of it) and then we will lock him up. He will be let out, having not solved the cause but merely dealt with the symptom and perhaps he will continue with the cycle of abuse and create another victim who will begin by abusing animals. These are not sad stories offered as excuses it is what actually happens!

It would seem there is a very fine line between perpetrator and victim, and one tends to lead to the other. The question is are we locking up victims or perpetrators, indeed is there such a distinction?