Two separate events have garnered a lot of attention in the Twin Cities in the past week. In the first, young boys in North Branch (ages 6-8) are accused of beating a puppy to death. In the second, two older youths in South Minneapolis were accused of beating a cat to death. Both stories led local newscasts.
Let's stipulate that killing pets is cruel and that the kids who did it should be punished, counseled or (ideally) both. There is sufficient anecdotal evidence out there that people who treat animals sadistically often turn their cruel ministrations on people later on unless there's some form of intervention. But I have to ask; are these two random events more newsworthy than, say, the torture, murder and defilement of two captured soldiers by terrorists in Iraq? And why did these horrible acts garner a shrug, while the animal stories were given lead story status? And from a local angle, the number of murders this summer in Minneapolis is up sharply, but stories of people gunned down on the north side seem to fall behind the tales of puppycide in Isanti County.
One of the local stations here in Minneapolis has a feature called "Good Question." Here's a question for "Good Question." Why lead a newscast with animal killing, when people are being gunned down in Minneapolis all too frequently? I'm going to ask that question myself and I'll be curious about the answer.
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