RW> Why does one of my cats go out catch mice or moles
 RW> bring them in, play with them until they are dead then
 RW> leaves them?
BR>    It's being a cat and practicing its craft.  There is no
BR> 'reason' attached  to the actions of an unreasoning animal.
BR> Cruelty presupposes conscious thought,  reason, and malice -
BR> none of which are indigenous to dogs and cats. 
No, its a cat slowly killing for its pleasure which if
it was a human it would be called cruel.  Animals have
conscious thought, can reason, and in my experience can
hold a grudge.
 RW> Why will a dog get into a chicken coop/pen and kill
 RW> each and everyone but eat none of them?
BR>    Dogs get excited at doing things, and tend to continue to
BR> do them.  Again,  human reason fails - they're just being
BR> dogs, not being cruel. 
Again they are killing just for their own pleasure, in
most cases not only killing but mutilating. 
 RW> Why will a dog chase and bite horses and/or cattle?
BR>    Dogs were bred for centuries for strains that would
BR> exhibit this behavior,  and it's been reinforced.  They're
Only certain dogs have been breed for this type of
behavior.  And for the last 50-100 years most of these
breeds have had these traits breed out of them.  The
poodle was originally breed as a retriever but very few
today have this instant left.
My point is dogs and cats and some other animals kill
not for food but for fun. 
 RW> Sorry, I've seen too many things that animals do to say
 RW> they are incapable of cruelty. 
BR>    I remain firm in the believe that animals are animals,
BR> and lack the needed  sentience to exhibit cruelty, which
BR> includes malice.
I've been around and worked with animals all of my life
and I have to say that some of them I have seen had the
ability to be cruel and to do it with malice.
I think it all comes down to how we each define cruel
and cruelty.
                      Remember:  Freedom isn't Free!
--- timEd-B11
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