Canine Connection

A story in the Daily Press today, reported that a young Marine was expelled from the Marine Corps for tossing a puppy over a cliff while on patrol in Iraq. A second Marine was disciplined for being involved in this horrifying action, as well. What makes this behavior even worse is that it was captured on video and posted on YouTube for all to view and enjoy. Unfortunately, viewers numbering in the tens of thousands watched this video before YouTube pulled it from the site.

Have the horrors of war so desensitized this Marine to violence that he thought harming this dog was nothing but a bit of fun? Or was this part of his personality before getting to Iraq? I don’t know if I find it more frightening that this individual found pleasure in the pain of this creature, or that so many thousands of people decided to watch the video on YouTube. I’m hoping that most of the people who viewed it were drawn to the video like some people can’t help but slow down to look at a car crash. I’m hoping this because the alternative is too disturbing – that we’ve become so desensitized to violence that we can find entertainment value in such a violent act.