Cruelty to animals by mass shooters?

It's obviously a common early warning sign for serial killers and apparently for spree killers as well. Luke Woodham in particular wrote in his journal, very graphically, about killing his dog Sparkle.. I lost faith in humanity after reading that and haven't regained it yet.
Devin Patrick Kelley apparently starved and beat his dog(s). Frederick Cowan reportedly kicked a puppy to death just because it was black.. Although he denied it, there were reports that Michael Carneal had tossed a kitten into a bonfire. James Huberty shot his dog in response to a neighbor complaining about the animal. Michael Ryan killed his dog Blackie before setting his house on fire (Ryan later expressed remorse for the murders of his mother and of Blackie only..)

Nikolas Cruz is notorious for torturing and killing animals. I'm probably forgetting a bunch of others. I look forward to your interesting answers and discussion, thank you!

There are a few conflicting reports on Cruz in that regard. Some people said he did, while others said they had never seen him abuse animals. Either way he did have a HUGE dislike of frogs. Apparently when he was younger a frog had poisoned his dog. He had posted a pic of a frog he had killed. Also in a recent live stream, Zach said that they both had started killing frogs after their dog died.

Nikolas is said to be a dog lover, and had actually texted the woman Roxanne who had taken him and Zachary in after their mom passed away to see how his dogs were doing shortly before the shooting. He was worried about them.

On that sort of lighter note, Dylann Roof has apparently been very concerned about his cats while incarcerated, reportedly berating his mother for feeding them too many treats.

Andrew Golden brutally killed cats.

EricsToastInTheCaf wrote:

On that sort of lighter note, Dylann Roof has apparently been very concerned about his cats while incarcerated, reportedly berating his mother for feeding them too many treats.

Eric’s love for sparky is well known too

He liked animals more than people

Screamingophelia wrote:

He liked animals more than people

That is something I can agree with. I would rather be around animals then most people.

Mamoru Takuma burned cats when he was young.

Martin Bryant was noted to torture animals as a child, if he tried to do that with Molly, she would bite his hand off.

Steve Kazmierczak abused his pug. This quote comes from chapter 2 of Last day on earth a portrait of the NIU school shooter.
"He can hear his dog breathing, though, up close. A pug with breathing problems. So he picks it up by its hind legs and hurls it, hard, with both hands, against the wall."

On the subject of mass shooters loving their pets, Charles Whitman loved his dog and wanted someone close to him to have the dog.

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Screamingophelia wrote:

He liked animals more than people

That is something I can agree with. I would rather be around animals then most people.

I have been hurt by women. I have been hurt by men. A dog has never hurt me. A cat has never hurt me. No animal has ever hurt me.

Elliott Roger was afraid of dogs because he had been bitten when he was a kid.

STK wrote:

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Screamingophelia wrote:

He liked animals more than people

That is something I can agree with. I would rather be around animals then most people.

I have been hurt by women. I have been hurt by men. A dog has never hurt me. A cat has never hurt me. No animal has ever hurt me.

Animals are pure souls. Humans on the other hand are a different story.    I'm the type of person that when I go to people's houses I usually find myself snuggling and talking to their pets more then I do to them.

Devin Kelley claimed to have used dogs for target practice

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Animals are pure souls. 

Christ no. Cats are known to kill other animals for the fun of it. I've heard stories of them killing kittens just for wandering into their territory. 

eldigato wrote:

Andrew Golden brutally killed cats.

There are rumors that Eric Harris did as well but no proof has been presented of it.

QuestionMark wrote:

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Animals are pure souls. 

Christ no. Cats are known to kill other animals for the fun of it. I've heard stories of them killing kittens just for wandering into their territory. 

I have known some cats that were indeed evil little assholes and shady AF.    BUT then again I have also known some that acted more dog like in their need for love and cuddles. Every animal is different.

QuestionMark wrote:

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Animals are pure souls. 

Christ no. Cats are known to kill other animals for the fun of it. I've heard stories of them killing kittens just for wandering into their territory. 

eldigato wrote:

Andrew Golden brutally killed cats.

There are rumors that Eric Harris did as well but no proof has been presented of it.

At the risk of sounding like an apologist

no way in hell do i believe that Eric ever killed or hurt any animal... I don’t even know if he hunted.

I don’t believe Dylan did either. He was afraid of dogs.

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Every animal is different.

So is every person.

Screamingophelia wrote:

no way in hell do i believe that Eric ever killed or hurt any animal... I don’t even know if he hunted.

I don’t believe Dylan did either. He was afraid of dogs. 

Oh I agree completely, it was just an unsubstantiated rumor.

QuestionMark wrote:

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Every animal is different.

So is every person.

True.

PotholeAbyss wrote:

Steve Kazmierczak abused his pug. This quote comes from chapter 2 of Last day on earth a portrait of the NIU school shooter.
"He can hear his dog breathing, though, up close. A pug with breathing problems. So he picks it up by its hind legs and hurls it, hard, with both hands, against the wall."

On the subject of mass shooters loving their pets, Charles Whitman loved his dog and wanted someone close to him to have the dog.

I read that article, very good info.

I believe he threw his pug because his breathing distracted him and he couldn't concentrate on hitting the car.

I had heard that Andrew Kehoe tied the hooves of his horses together before setting fire to his barn the day of the bombings. So unnecessarily cruel.

EricsToastInTheCaf wrote:

I had heard that Andrew Kehoe tied the hooves of his horses together before setting fire to his barn the day of the bombings. So unnecessarily cruel.

Oh yeah, I remember hearing that he once beat a horse to death too.

Killing animals is more of a Serial Killer thing.

Michael Kenneth McLendon killed his three dogs.

Can’t understand why anybody would hurt animals

Dahmer used too dissect roadkill

EricsToastInTheCaf wrote:

On that sort of lighter note, Dylann Roof has apparently been very concerned about his cats while incarcerated, reportedly berating his mother for feeding them too many treats.

As a cat mummy, when I read that I almost forgot that Roof was a murderer. I can relate so much to that attitude, always thinking and worrying about your cat while others think it's "just" a cat.

I don't know how he would have been with real animals, if he could love a pet or not but Adam Lanza seemed to have a weird fascination with chimpanzees and hamster. I think hamsters and Adam Lanza really go together well.

Smiggles94 wrote:

Dahmer used too dissect roadkill

I'd say cutting apart something thats already dead is pretty different from knowingly inflicting pain on a living thing. I can't remember if Dahmer actually killed any living animals; When he was a teen he put a dog's skull on a pike out in the woods but I can't remember if he killed the dog himself or if it was just more roadkill.

I could definitely relate it too the moment I read it. A lot of times I've wanted to do something stupid to myself and then I thought "Well who would take care of them? It's my responsibility. I'd have to at least make sure they're taken care of first." I think Dylan in particular loved Avery, the cat in most of his pictures. Until the animal's name was revealed everyone in the TCC on Tumblr referred to him as "Cat Roof." I can't remember though; it might have been female?

EricsToastInTheCaf wrote:

I could definitely relate it too the moment I read it. A lot of times I've wanted to do something stupid to myself and then I thought "Well who would take care of them? It's my responsibility. I'd have to at least make sure they're taken care of first." I think Dylan in particular loved Avery, the cat in most of his pictures. Until the animal's name was revealed everyone in the TCC on Tumblr referred to him as "Cat Roof." I can't remember though; it might have been female?

I just thought the same yesterday night when I have crazy thoughts due to tiredness.

I respect slugs more than i do with some people.

Ziamber II wrote:

I respect slugs more than i do with some people.

I already saved an ant that had almost drowned in my shower. It had passed out so I put it in the recovery position on a tissue. It regained consciousness and thanked me a lot.

I think I may be lowering the quality of this thread, sorry!

Ziamber II wrote:

I respect slugs more than i do with some people.

I know of many such people; pawns, blobs, pieces of flesh. We must stop having mercy on such people.

Smiggles94 wrote:

Can’t understand why anybody would hurt animals

Well if someone is already seriously considering hurting people animals aren't much of a stretch.

Animals are as defenseless as people in gun free zones, sadly enough.

Animals are as defenseless as newborns. Most people would consider harming a newborn to be far more heinous than harming a regular person, so why is harming an animal not seen as morally wrong as harming a person?

People against that kind of idea would probably counter with arguments about well, raising cattle and goats and chickens and pigs in horrific conditions and then murdering them brutally needs to be ended as well. I would imagine they would at least.

EricsToastInTheCaf wrote:

People against that kind of idea would probably counter with arguments about well, raising cattle and goats and chickens and pigs in horrific conditions and then murdering them brutally needs to be ended as well. I would imagine they would at least.

Massive food processing such as this really is horrible. I am not opposed to meat eating in general, but the methods we use to deliver meat to the masses is horrific.

STK wrote:

why is harming an animal not seen as morally wrong as harming a person?

Really it depends on the animal. On even places like 4chan so much as showing a picture of a mutilated cat or dog is enough to get a tidal wave of angry replies and moral outrage.

QuestionMark wrote:

STK wrote:

why is harming an animal not seen as morally wrong as harming a person?

Really it depends on the animal. On even places like 4chan so much as showing a picture of a mutilated cat or dog is enough to get a tidal wave of angry replies and moral outrage.

Yes it depends on the animals because killing an ant is ok, but killing a deer is not.

When I was a kid, I used to kill ants with a hammer and imagine they were soldiers and it was artillery. It began to seem as if they really did come back for the wounded...

Screamingophelia wrote:

EricsToastInTheCaf wrote:

On that sort of lighter note, Dylann Roof has apparently been very concerned about his cats while incarcerated, reportedly berating his mother for feeding them too many treats.

Eric’s love for sparky is well known too

He liked animals more than people

Guilherme Taucci also loved animals and sympathized with their suffering.

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‘’It is revolting to see innocent beings like the animals experiencing despicable lives because of the human imbecility.’’

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‘‘If I had financial condition, I would like to help institutions that care about animal welfare. This is a hobby I would like to adopt.’‘

N/A

Vladislav Roslyakov was accused of torturing cats by a neighbor but one of his relatives said the accusation was false.

Part of Wellington's suicide letter : “I have left a house in Sepetiba of which none of my family members need, there are poor institutions, financed by generous people who take care of abandoned animals, I want this space where I spent my last months to be donated to one of these institutions, because animals are very unappreciated beings and need much more protection and affection than human beings who have the advantage of being able to communicate, work to feed themselves, therefore, those who take my house, I please ask to have good sense and fulfill my request, by fulfilling my request, you will fulfill the will of the parents who wished to pass this estate onto me and everybody knows this, if you do not fulfill my request, automatically you will be disrespecting the will of my parents, which will prove that you have no consideration for them, I believe that you all have respect for our parents, prove this by doing what I asked.”

— Wellington Menezes de Oliveira

Cho Seung-hui was very kind and gentle with animals. James Holmes had a good relationship with them and I'm sure Pekka loved animals.

Salvador Ramos is said to have sometimes mistreated animals.

Nelson216 wrote:

Cho Seung-hui was very kind and gentle with animals. James Holmes had a good relationship with them and I'm sure Pekka loved animals.

Salvador Ramos is said to have sometimes mistreated animals.

"Salvador Ramos is said to have sometimes mistreated animals" dude there's literally a video of him holding a bag full of dismembered cats, that's an understatement

vril wrote:

Nelson216 wrote:

Cho Seung-hui was very kind and gentle with animals. James Holmes had a good relationship with them and I'm sure Pekka loved animals.

Salvador Ramos is said to have sometimes mistreated animals.

"Salvador Ramos is said to have sometimes mistreated animals" dude there's literally a video of him holding a bag full of dismembered cats, that's an understatement

Sorry I didn't know that, I hate this guy and I don't want to see this video.

Payton Gendron killed a stray cat because it was attacking his own pet cat, Paige.