Shocked by a despicable act of cruelty (1)

Like many readers of The Times, I was shocked and disgusted when I saw the front page depicting a horrible picture of a tortured dog buried alive. How can man resort to such cruelty if he is not sick in the mind? Or otherwise take pleasure in such abominable acts?

The owner of this dog could have approached the SPCA or some dog shelter or even let him roam the streets, even if this alternative is not recommendable, but perhaps much less painful than the torture this poor dog has been through.

Like many animal lovers, I have always encouraged the authorities to increase the penalties for animal cruelty. Such inhuman behaviour surely merits a severe prison sentence. But so far, only one person was jailed for a few days, for dumping kittens in a skip.

For many years now, we’ve been hearing and reading about animal cruelty and it seems the authorities and legislators are not sensitive enough to update the laws and start sending to prison such cruel people who don’t care at all when they feel they should torture or kill animals and protected birds.

One must commend the Animal Welfare Department for rescuing and caring for this poor dog which could not defend itself against such an abominable act. And The Times for creating awareness by printing such stories and pictures.