I learned the hard way that some take extreme exception to remarks about cruelty to cats, even when it's an obvious joke. I love our cat, and would never do anything to hurt him. However, I once tied a double hooked fly, one trailing about 2 inches behind the firs. It was designed as a large pike fly. I had a friend who adores cats. I joking showed him my twin hook fly and remarked that I had just tied a new cat toy. He wasn't amused, and our relationship cooled dramatically over the dark joke. I still state that our cat needs swimming lessons, with a burlap bag and rocks, to strengthen his swimming ability. Those who know me know that I would never hurt the cat, and that he gets most of the attention in our house, petting, scratching behind the ears, playing with, and brushing from me. I've even been known to tease people similarly. Complainer - "I've got a cold that's killing me." Me - Guillotine will take care of that." Those people know that I'm only kidding, and throw the same back.
Such dark kidding is often a way to vent frustration in a harmless way. My cat doesn't know that I;m talking about throwing him into a river. He doesn't care. He knows that he's getting attention, and that he's being brushed, or cared for in some kind way, even though I'm saying something to him that might shock another.
Unfortunately, on line, we can easily misconstrue what another is saying. We can't hear the voice inflections, or see the facial expressions, or body language. We have no clues as to the ultimate meaning except for the words. And the words can be misread. So before we all start taking sides, let's all try to see each other for what we are, a community who likes to joke around a bit, and who come from different backgrounds, from different cultures, even though we live in the same country. In my father's generation, hunting, and the killing of animals was part of the culture. Neither of my parents were trophy hunters, but when our dog developed an obviously deadly cancer, he was taken out for one, last hunt. batches of kittens were put into burlap sacs, and tossed into the river. It was both a more honorable, but sometimes harder society.
We are products of our own personalities, and our examples and surroundings. We may have differing senses of what is humor, and what is cruelty. We do have the ability to how we react to another's posts. I hope we react well.
Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
