Petition for stronger sentencing for animal cruelty. PLEASE sign.

Please please sign, anything that might make a difference.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/34522

Val

 

Signed

 

Yep, signed too

Just to add (as the thread was closed), I'm not in favour of 'like for like' punishment, ie, they burnt the dog, so they should be burnt. I AM however an advocate of public shame. If someone carries out this sort of act, then I think the whole community should be aware. No doubt, there are some that think that there's some kind of 'street cred' is to be had. Maybe they would think twice if they thought that public humiliation was at stake...

 

We live in a "liberated" culture, Freddy; shame doesn't have the same intensity/consequence it once had.

 

Well, since 'we' don't really practice shame on a public stage, I think I have to disagree. Imagine a situation where notices were put up, announcing some outrage. I'm not talking about petty crime, but these kind of sick instances.

 

Just printing a few names in the local newspaper is not Shame, I agree, its street cred.

But total shame, so as to be made to look really small/stupid in front of a whole lot of people would I think work with anyone apart from the complete insane.
Bring back the stocks, and let anyone throw whatever they like at them for a couple of days, and then rub it in hard.
I'd not think most would be back for more.

 

Yup, that *could* inspire a name and shame culture. However, it could also induce a culture of whipping up public emotion/fury - which isn't the same thing.

 

When I lived in Sheffield, the buses used to have massive 'ASBO' posters on the back, clearly showing the face and name of the person who'd won the ASBO. I regularly heard chavs talking while waiting for a bus, boasting that someone they know has got his pic on the back of a bus. It was the holy grail for them.

Round my way, the local paper has a weekly 'Scales of Justice' section, which names and shames people found guilty of various crimes. I used to know people who would read it regularly to see if any of their mates had 'got into the paper'.

 

Oh I'm all for whipping up public fury, if its directed at the right people.
Not quite into lynch mobs though.

 

But that is what it could degenerate to, pete. History tells that story.

 

This is why we can't have mob justice:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/901723.stm

Basically, its about a paediatrician who was terrorised by stupid people because of her job title.

 

Exactly.

 

I'm not talking about faces/names on the back of a bus. I'm talking about notices in the actual community, where all would know the individual. I think for too long the silent majority have been...well...silent. Mob rule? I would hate to think that such a thing could arise, so there's no easy answer. I guess it's a question of just how badly we want to take control of the society in which we all have to live? I certainly don't have the answers, but are we really ready to let things go on like this with no radical solution? Sadly, I think the answer is yes