That is is NOT OK!!! (animals involved)

[kibbles]

ITA with JustADude, the guy in the OP's story was totally in the wrong (no doubt about it); but, I don't think it automatically means he is a psychopath, abusive or a sociopath.

[smileyeagle1021]

(* Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, for those who needed the acronym expanded.)

one very evil cat myself (he's called Hades and he lives up to his name )

oh and thanks for that, I knew who they were but I didn't know what the full name was.

ETA- btw, what does "ITA" stand for?

[Pezzle]

Reality: Some people just don't give a crap about the lives of feeder animals. They view them as a lower species fit for nothing but food and as such just don't care. He doesn't place the intensity or importance of the mouse's feelings. Not everyone humanizes animals the same way and some people humanize some animals and not others.

For instance, I don't feel a pang of guilt in my heart in the slightest when I feed our huge boa Slithers. I talk to the thing like a little baby as though it would coo and understand what I'm saying. I don't hold the same regard for the mouse. Doesn't mean I'm a big enough jerk to shake the box, but I mean come on. I tend to hit and daze the feeder rats before dropping them in the cage, as was recommended to me to prevent injury to the pet.

@JLRodgers: Many reptiles like the one's we own will not eat dead or pre-frozen food for meat. Our snake and my lizard need mental stimulation of the hunt or else they become complacent and somewhat feisty. It's just something they seem to need to express.

[NightWatch]

For instance, I don't feel a pang of guilt in my heart in the slightest when I feed our huge boa Slithers. I talk to the thing like a little baby as though it would coo and understand what I'm saying. I don't hold the same regard for the mouse. Doesn't mean I'm a big enough jerk to shake the box, but I mean come on. I tend to hit and daze the feeder rats before dropping them in the cage, as was recommended to me to prevent injury to the pet.

I think the hitting and dazing of the mouse is part of the feeding process. It probably is even better for the mouse, less stress right before death. But harassing the animal for no good reason is entirely different. I feel indifferent to feeder animals... but in a way that I still don't shake them or do anything else that I wouldn't want done to me. I see it more as Kharma issue...

[BookstoreEscapee]

I could never own an animal that requires live food...but I understand that some animals do need that, and that animals eat other animals (I eat meat, too). My parents have 2 cats, and last weekend I was housesitting and the girl brought up an almost-dead little mouse...I guess he lived another 1/2 hour or so after I put him outside. I felt so bad, though. I know I couldn't ever actually feed him to another animal. (The cats are indoor cats, though; as far as I know, this was the first mouse either of them has caught, and they're 2 years old now.)

[Buglady]

Reality: Some people just don't give a crap about the lives of feeder animals. They view them as a lower species fit for nothing but food and as such just don't care.

Oh, I know; but there's a difference between not really caring and actively tormenting. And I am not sure which of those I saw yesterday.

I guess I am a little strange in that I can genuinely care about an animal's welfare right up to the point it becomes lunch for something else.

[Lingering Grin]

I think the hitting and dazing of the mouse is part of the feeding process. It probably is even better for the mouse, less stress right before death.

Yep, my old roommate did this when his snake was small. He got it when it was about 9 inches long, and it eventually became 3 feet long.

When it was small, it didn't have the strength to struggle against the mouse, even the smaller ones. So he would smack them in the head before throwing them in the cage. When the snake got bigger he wouldn't do that... but if you ever saw that snake strike you'd understand why.

It was one strong ass snake, that mouse was dead within 2 seconds, tops. The snake would strike with so much force is just outright crushed the mouse's ribcage, rather than slowly strangling it like you would think. It was over so fast, the mice hardly ever made a sound...

The only thing my roommate DID do that could be "questionable" is write "Death Row" on the outside of the mouse tank... but, then again, mice can't read...

[AdminAssistant]

... but, then again, mice can't read...

Good thing it wasn't NIMH.

*ducks and flees*

[jerkface11]

I'd never own an animal that relies on the death of a living creature that'd be a potential pet for another person.

I dunno about that one people will keep just about ANYTHING as a pet. I mean they sell spiders and scorpions as pets!! Hell as a kid I had a pet chicken.

[JLRodgers]

I dunno about that one people will keep just about ANYTHING as a pet. I mean they sell spiders and scorpions as pets!! Hell as a kid I had a pet chicken.

Oh, I guess I should've said a "not commonly considered 'human food' by the country of the person" as I guess people would have anything as a pet - didn't think of chickens as pets at first.

[zzapp the witch]

Nah, chickens are awesome pets. My lil sis taught one of her cocks to walk on a harness. Somehow she made the front page of the paper with that one..../boggle

They're great yard dogs, garden weeders, alarm clocks, and general entertainment.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Oh, I guess I should've said a "not commonly considered 'human food' by the country of the person" as I guess people would have anything as a pet - didn't think of chickens as pets at first.

I just don't have the heart to send a live mousie to become dinner. If you can handle that, good for you, get a snake or whatever...just don't ask me to babysit

I don't mind snakes; I'll touch them or play with them, I just wouldn't own one myself.
Spiders, however, are a different story. <shudder>

We used to have a "stray" rooster in my parents' neighborhood. Don't know where he came from, don't think he belonged to anyone, but he lived on the street behind us and could often be seen in the neighbor's yard behind my parents' house (and sometimes our yard). Yeah, he made a good alarm clock; too bad you couldn't decide what time he went off...

[Rubyred]

Right now I own a Ball Python who, despite my attempts, will not eat frozen food, four leopard geckos who eat a wide variety of creepy crawlies that must be alive (their really not smart enough to eat dead bugs ) and a 9 1/2" Tiger Oscar that will eat just about anything we put in the tank (crickets, shrimp, hot dogs, grilled chicken, other fish etc)

As a person who is well versed in feeding live food I have often heard that you are supposed to stun a rodent before you put it into the cage with the snake. This is due to the fact that in it's panic the rodent cold end up biting or scratching the snake. I do not practice this procedure as my python is well capable of killing her own food....and this is really only for people with very young, small, or sick reptiles that might not be able to incapacitate a rodent on their own.

I believe this is what this person might have been doing although he was going about it all wrong.

[Sharsarannon]

The more I think about this the more I'm inclined to go talk to the girl *right now* even though I am not scheduled again till Monday. While it MAY have been just ignorance on his part, I can't take the chance that he might be near doing something else...

You should. Anyone who will abuse an animal for fun is extremely likely to cause pain to other helpless creatures for enjoyment- like children or 'lovers'. Especially given she said he's "into Pain". Sounds like a textbook sadist, and not in the BDSM-just-for-kinks sorta way.

[AdminAssistant]

My parents' neighbor has all kinds of chickens, dogs, etc. He also hunts, fishes, goes frog gigging, and all sorts of other fine rural activities. More than once he's knocked on our door with a sack of croppy/catfish fillets, frog legs, vegetables, etc. The fish and veggies we gladly take. The frogs...not so much.

He was out in the hills hunting and came across some turkey eggs. He took them home and put them in his incubator and they hatched. And he raised them (this is illegal, btw). It was all well and good when they were chicks, but when they grew up, he had 3 tall ugly mean birds roaming around his yard....and then our yard. Dad had to herd them off our property more than once. I think they eventually became Thanksgiving dinners.

As a kid, I tried to adopt anything with four legs. But Mom had a strict 'cats and dogs only' rule.