Is animal cruelty ever OK?

Let’s get this straight first – I really do not like spiders!

But as much as I hate them, I object to turning on my TV on a Sunday night to see one being eaten alive for entertainment purposes.  I didn’t find it entertaining in the slightest!

Surely an animal is an animal and whilst I admit a spider is not in the same league as a lion, the circumstances are very similar in my eyes.  In fact, I’m really not sure how this is different other than the fact that the animal in question is much smaller and yes, a little bit creepy.

Both creatures were pointlessly killed for entertainment purposes.

We were all horrified when poor Cecil the Lion was killed for sport, in fact there was international outrage wasn’t there?  So why is it OK for ITV to do this without any recriminations.

Where do we draw the line?

Is there a list of animals we can be cruel to and a list that we can’t?

I’m not vegetarian and I don’t want this to come across as hypocritical because I eat meat, I just think that ITV crossed the line last night in the name of entertainment.

What do you think?

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Image credit: Vaclav Volrab