Society cannot accept animal cruelty cases

Yet again we this week find ourselves reporting on some quite horrific acts of animal cruelty.

A helpless dog dumped in a bin to die and a dangerous trap set up in a park popular with dog walkers are the latest in a sickening category of incidents.

Few animal lovers will forget the appalling case of the dog tied to a tree and then set alight in Fife.

Meanwhile, although it has been heartening to report on the full recovery made by a swan shot by a crossbow, it is not a situation that should ever have arisen in the first place.

It is often said that one can judge a society by the way it treats its animals. That being the case it would seem we have some way to go.

We are referred to as a nation of animal lovers. That being the case there must be questions over just how such terrible crimes come to be perpetrated.

Acts of cruelty against animals are also alarming given the depth of research showing that people prepared to harm pets and other creatures are many times more likely to also harm their fellow humans.

Cases such as the ones being highlighted this week will once again bring the penalties faced by those found guilty of offences against animals into sharp focus.

Fines and other penalties can be stringent, but are they tough enough?

Back in 2014 a record number of people were banned from keeping animals and fines totalling more than £23,000 were handed down through the courts.

Even statistics such as that are not, it would seem, enough to deter some people who simply cannot show acceptable levels of human decency.