Frontal Lobotomy
Barbie stopped by for a visit earlier tonight. I didn't hear her call as Black Sabbath was drowning out everything with Dehumanizer. Plonking herself on my easy chair, I proceeded to give her backrubs as she purred in contentment. With eyes half-closed, she was comfortable and safe in my company. Then the strangest thing happened.Would she sense it if I had the sudden urge of stabbing her with a kitchen knife? What does she actually see when she looks into my eyes? A lover of animals or a seething human being? I'm confident that my cats are well tooled to take care of themselves. And that was when I recalled the news today.
After a three month prison sentence for killing a kitten last October, the Bedok North Cat Killer has been collared again. Daniel Hooi was arrested last night for indulging a mastubatory habit which should see him pillored with a much harsher penalty. A kitten was found battered outside his flat, with injuries so severe, it had to be put to sleep.
It should have been clear to everyone, from the judge who presided over Hooi's first conviction to the lady who gave back the second kitten, that Hooi was certifiably psychopathic and posed a grave danger to animals. The three month sentence handed down was clearly inadequate and a grave injustice to the suffering visited upon his victim who died an excruciating death.
Singapore is a country of contrasts. The island city state has laws for everything from littering to public speaking, not withstanding the ten thousand dollar fine and twelve-month prison sentence for animal abusers. However follow-ups and monitoring of potential repeat offenders for this kind of behavior is grossly lacking. On the other extreme, justice is swift for murderers and drug traffickers. Singapore disposes of them efficiently.
How many cats would have to suffer the same fate before the authorities wake up to the fact that Singapore, as with the rest of the world, is inhibited with its share of sociopaths, psychopaths and mal-adjusted individuals? How many animals would have die at the hands of these individuals before harsher sentences are passed down, counselling sessions initiated or lobotomies performed?
There are some who argue that inventing new methods of punishment for such offenders is taking an extreme position. Well torturing and murdering animals is still torture and murder. Are the lives of animals worth less than human beings?
Only recently was The Community Court established to address this blindspot by ordering madatory counselling. This court should have been formed a long time ago, with the authority to dish out punishment equal of such reprehensible acts. But instead, the first three month sentence was an afront to the dignity animals. If Hooi had done this to a fellow human being, Hooi would have been hung by his neck on the nearest tree.
Typical of efficient rubber-stamping and the pressure-cooker environment like Singapore's, this is precisely the kind of outcome you get.
posted by Teutoburg @ 12:44 AM
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