Funny, how these same people don't have any problems with the slaughterhouses they get their meat from which is infinitely more cruel and appalling

Indeed it is, and no one suggested otherwise, you're jumping to conclusions. In fact as a life long vegetarian I have far more respect for meat eaters who do\are prepared to kill their food than those people who don't even think about what it is they're eating, buying prepacked crap off the shelf (and in the process poisoning themselves with all manner of preservatives and other toxic junk).

If you're perfectly happy to go out there and kill something, prepare it and cook it and you're happy with what it is you're consuming then fair enough. Personally I choose not to eat anything that has a face, and the idea of eating flesh disturbs me, but each to their own.

The real problem is the fact that most people never even think about it, and as a result never question, or even know about, the horrific practices of the meat industry they continue to support.

Anyway, I digress. I've waffled long enough, but suffice it to say there has been a lack of definition in this discussion. What myself and several others objected to in the original cat killing post was not the fact that this was necessary culling (a claim which was questionable anyway), but the way in which he went about it and the glorified way he told the story. I'm disturbed by anyone who derives so much fun from such an abhorrent act.

No one suggested that culling wasn't necessary in some cases, and unless I'm mistaken no one suggested that killing animals when necessary, in humane ways, was wrong. (personally I'd happily support the culling of human beings in certain cases ;P)

I do object to hunting for pleasure. Whether it's for justifiable reasons or not, deriving enjoyment from hunting down a defenseless creature and shooting it is inexcusable. This is precisely why a ban on fox hunting here in the UK is imminent, and has huge public support. If animals need culling, fair enough, but treating that regretful and repulsive task as sport and doing it in such a cruel manner cannot be justified.

I hope that perhaps we all understand one another better now.