people have no respect whatsoever for animals. its a shame. And your 100% right. animals are like humans. they just do different things just like us humans. and i think they deserve the best and who ever would do such a horrifing thing i think they sould be punished just as if it were a human being.:)

we are not better than dogs. their life is worth as much as ours. killing a dog = killing a soul.
and all souls are the same under god's eyes.
why should we punish harshly only the murderers of one sentient being, and not another?

There is a difference between eating other animals for survival, which is alright because we are also animals that need to eat in order to survive. But killing an animal with malice cannot be tolerated.

I was outraged lately at a recent news event in Northern Ireland which is where I am from as a man killed his girlfriends dog and all he got was six months in jail, this was an absoultly disgusting jail term for something like murder. When will the courts realise that animals are important beings aswell.

I agree totally. All Animals Have Feelings and share their unconditional love with humans. They should be honored not ever hurt !

I agree, that anyone who kills an animal should be punished the same way they killed or abused an animal. The same if it is a child that is abused. An animal is like a furry child. They feel pain, depression, lonelness, or love and joy when we are kind to them. They depend on us to care for them, just as we depend on God to be there for us. We are like God to them, their lives are in our hands, we need to take care of them just as we want God to take care of us.

PEOPLE THAT KILL ANOMALS SHOULD GET THE DEATH PENALTY.ANIMALS GIVE EVERYTHING AND ASK FOR NOTHING UNLIKE HUMAN BEINGS WHO CAN BE CRUEL AND UNKIND

Just watch an episode of animal cops on animal planet.I agree with your punishment idea. But the prisons are over crowded now. There is no room for them in prison. I say do to them what they did to the animal they hurt.

Yes they have....I say MORE right than humans !! Animals never hurt anyone! Put animal abusers/murders to DEATH, PAINFULLY !!

Definetly there should be a good long prison sentence for someone who kills an animal Virginia D mentioned cats. Besides companionship and love, the average housecat has given humans so much more throughout history. Cats help keep human disease in check because one the traits that humans and rats and mice share is that they can get the same diseases. Cats have saved an unknown number of human lives simply be keeping the rodent population in check. Where there is grain, rats and mice multiply so quickly that they can get at a farmers grain supply and eat most of it, cats have kept an unknown number of people from starving by protecting small farms grain supply. Cats are also desert animals. Everyone who has seen a cat when it is startled, the cat jumps straight up. This is a reflex action by the cat to protect it from snake bites. By jumping straight up, the cat not only avoids the striking snake, the cat comes down on the snake and their reflex is to bite the snake where it is most vulnerable, just behind the head. Cats have saved and unknown number of people from poisonous snakes. The Eqyptians knew all these things and the penalty for killing a cat was death. Even now where some cities have been over run by rats, there is little humans can do. Rats learn quickly about traps and rats when they find a new food they only eat a little, so if it is poisoned, the rat only gets sick. Also rats who get sick other rats come and smell the sick rat's breath so other rats won't even go near the poisoned bait. But cities have found that where people have a lot of cats for pets, they don't have a rat problem. Rats can be dangerous to children playing outside and even adults in the city. Dumpsters give them an inexhaustible food supply and a city block can become easily overrun. After trying poison and traps, the poison just ended up poisoning other animals including small children because the bait can be knocked out of it's safe place quite easily. But where these city blocks get cats as pets, cats solve the problem and children can play outside without fear of getting a disease from a rat bite or a bite from the rats' fleas. To give rats their due, they make excellent and affection pets themselves. There is no need for the warfare against them, besides making good pets, when kept in control, wild rats eat debris that would fester and become homes for disease themselves, so rats play a part in protecting people from disease by eliminating food that could become breeding grounds for deadly bacteria. I think nature is amazing. Whether you believe it's God But it's us humans that mess it up. We think we know better. Like the prairie dog campaign, the black footed ferret is an endangered species but they also hunt prairie dogs and keep them from destroying all the forage. But we humans want to squeeze every last dollar out of everything. Anyone who kills an animal should be punished. I think everyone on this board knows of different ways animals help us.

I feel life in prison for killing animals is justice well served, but the government needs to get involved, Im sure there are alot of people in thee government that needs to get involved. I take praise in some of the stars on t.v. that help make progress in helping and even saving abused and totured animals, and I am in full support of your petition.

HELL YEAH, BUT LIFE IN PRISON IS TOO GOOD FOR AN ANIMAL MURDERER ..... I BELIEVE IN AN EYE FOR AN EYE!

The ancient Egyptians had the right idea,when the death of a cat was punishable by death.

I love animals and I agree they're just like children. Stop the the abuse. I believe that anyone who kills animals should get a life sentence.

My own dog Lady is on her third and final home now. She had been badly treated by her first 2 owners and was a very traumatised 18 month old when i adopted her. It has been a long hard struggle to get her to trust people again but we have got there. She is now 11 years old and a more lovely dog you could not wish for. So yes i believe people who abuse/kill animals should be locked up.

There are so many reports on deaths of animals n nothing being done! I'm sorry but if you take the life of an animal to me it's the same as a human! My animals are my kids n i will do all i can to protect them n all the other helpless animals !!!!

I have read numerous articles about people torturing a animal to death and only getting two months in jail for it.
An animal is a living creature it has emotion they feel pain what do they feel as they they are slowly tortured to death by the cruel hands of these hateful people can you honestly look at a animal a say you deserve to die a horrible death! please speak up speak out about harsher punishment for animal abusers we are the voice of the animals since they cant speak for themselves for the ones we are fighting for its to late

I have read numerous articles about people torturing a animal to death and only getting two months in jail tome for it.
An animal is a living creature it has emotion they feel pain what do they feel as they they are slowly tortured to death by the cruel hands of these hateful people can you honestly look at a animal a say you deserve to die a horrible death! please speak up speak out about harsher punishment for animal abusers we are the voice of the animals since they cant speak for themselves for the ones we are fighting for its to late

How about for a pig or a cow? Aren't they animals too? Can you make that distinction ethically?