Recently, the British public broadcasting service BBC reported that there was a viral video showing the torture, abuse, and killing of a leaf monkey. According to the report, the primary distribution of the abuse video was through YouTube, but people who wanted crueler videos joined a Telegram closed room and paid up to hundreds of dollars to buy them. The problem is that people from various countries are willing to pay money to see animal torture. Not only this, but the person producing the videos recorded and distributed such content. However, the problem isn’t over yet, and it showed up in the trial of the animal abuser. The case ended by punishing the one who tortured the leaf monkey named Mini, but the abuser was only sentenced to eight months in prison because the leaf monkey isn’t an endangered or protected species. 

 As you can see, the degree and methods of animal abuse have evolved and become harsher, but the punishment for animal abuse is way too light to give attention to the people who abused animals. Some people say, “The punishment for animal abuse is a fine,” and there is a voice of criticism that the punishment is a slap on the wrist. Animals have a life value just the way they are. However, if we lighten penalties for animal abuse, it violates the value of life, which is the most valuable thing in the world. There is a realistic limit for treating every life equally under the law, but one thing can be said for sure: Human or animal, no matter what kind of life it is, every being is worthy of protection. Therefore, the degree and criteria in punishing animal abuse shouldn’t focus on the target of the crime; it should be focused on life-threatening action, which is harsh and antisocial, and punish it consistently and strongly.

 Meanwhile, experts from all over the world are focusing on the cruelty and violence of animal abuse crimes that don’t just end with animals. Hence, experts are making a voice for the seriousness of animal abuse, as well as the need and urgency of tougher legal regulation. Actually, it is common that criminals abused animals viciously before they committed crimes against humans. A serial killer named Kang Ho Sun, who killed 10 women between 2006 and 2009, first brutally killed the dogs in the dog farm that he managed. Plus, Cho Do Soon, the notorious child sexual offender, stated that he was drunk and threw a bottle and killed a dog twice before. With regard to these two cases, experts claimed that these are the type of crime where the perpetrators started with violence against animals before moving on to humans. Not only that, but there is a case where hatred toward animals evolved into threatening people. A man in his 60s who was stressed because of cat wailing, attacked a person called a ‘cat-mom’, someone who gives food to cats. He was only punished with a fine. Therefore, a profiler Kwon Il Yong claimed that we should handle and be aware of animal abuse crimes as antisocial action, since they precede violent crimes. At the same time, he claimed that the scientific investigation and the first response to animal abuse crime should be held directly and swiftly.

 We need to focus on not only the similarities between animal abuse and violent crimes, but also on the psychology of animal abuse criminals. Experts say that the common characteristic of animal abuse criminals is “emotion lacking form.” Unlike normal people, they regard animals as a target for their violence to resolve stress without feeling any emotions. Specifically, they show their violence and bloody-mindedness more strongly toward small animals like cats and dogs that can’t speak or resist. Moreover, the lawyer Yang Tae Jeong analyzed that the psychology of animal abuse criminals is the revelation of a “distorted spirit” that makes light of life and enjoys the attention paid to them. Also, Gong Jeong Sik, professor of criminal psychology at Kyonggi University, analyzed that the animal abuse criminals have a “passive attack psychology” where they try to get psychological satisfaction by harming those weaker than them. The mental state of animal abuse criminals is mostly in accord with psychopathic criminals. Both cannot feel any emotion toward their target and resolutely use violence. Furthermore, there is a problem that they don’t recognize others’ pain or emotion at all and can’t feel the pang of conscience for cruel action. In fact, the notorious psychopathic criminal, Yoo Yeong Chul, is said to have had an experience of animal abuse in the past. In this sense, we can know that animal abuse is one of the typical characteristics of psychopaths. Not all animal abuse criminals are psychopathic, but considering existing examples and crime methods, their crime is likely to lead to the murder of humans. Because of this, many people demand that we have to prevent animal abuse crimes and strengthen punishment.

 In conclusion, animal abuse can be seen as a warning message of another crime that will target humans, so we need to be concerned about all animal abuse crimes that have occurred in the past and are happening in the present. In addition, we need to prepare alternatives for actively raising awareness of such crimes. However, the maximum sentence in Korea’s animal protection law is up to 3 years of prison labor or a 30 million won penalty, which is not enough to deter animal abusers. Thus, as we said before, to prevent dangerous animal abusers from moving on to targeting people, we need to understand the close relationship between brutal animal abuse and violent crimes. It is important to know that animal abuse is a solemn antisocial action. It is necessary to manage it quickly and punish it more strongly than now as well as prepare sentencing guidelines to punish all animal abuse criminals consistently.

Animal Abuse Reports | Animal protection consultation center 1577-0954 / Police 112

79th Reporter • CHO SEO YUN • jeoyum@gmail.com

79th Reporter • NAM HYE SEUNG • namhyeseung50@gmail.com