"murdered a girlfriend's Yorkie" You destroyed your whole point when you stated this. You can't "murder" a dog and to remotely compare is demeaning to the value of human life. You had me captivated and then you dropped that lame bomb and I lost all the value of your insight.
Sorry you didn't like the term, "murdered." If that 'destroyed Ketch's whole point,' that one turn of phrase effectively erases 'all value or insight,' as to the rest of it- I would say it is your credibility you are calling into question.
Call it what you want; however, animal cruelty is not insignificant. Don't get caught up in semantics.
"Since the 1970"s, research has consistently reported childhood cruelty to animals as the first warning sign of later delinquency, violence, and criminal behavior. In fact, nearly all violent crime perpetrators have a history of animal cruelty in their profiles. Albert deSalvo, the Boston Strangler found guilty of killing 13 women, shot arrows through dogs and cats he trapped as a child. Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold boasted about mutilating animals for fun."
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blo...104/children-who-are-cruel-animals-when-worry