Sometimes I think people are insane. Then someone goes and confirms my suspicions.

Last week, a Des Moines man was charged with animal neglect by torture and is being accused of using a staple gun and shooting staples into his cat’s head. The vet that the cat was brought to see said that the staples were embedded half an inch into the skull. The cat was eventually put to sleep.

Court documents show that the man admitted abusing the cat and the man’s mother told police that the man had been abusing animals since he was six years old.

This is the type of thing that proves to me that people truly are insane. Anyone who can do these kinds of things to any kind of animal obviously has some sort of chemical imbalance and should be locked up or should be forced to let the PETA people take their own kind of revenge on him.

I could see a person being so mad that he or she would want to seriously injure someone else. People are cruel, and they intentionally do things to other people to hurt them. God knows there have been times humans have really pissed me off.

However, what exactly does an animal like a cat or a dog do to a logical, sane person that would make him or her want to take a staple gun to the animal’s head and fire?

Sure, maybe your pet has broken something in the house. Maybe it accidentally scratched you or bit you while you were playing with it. Maybe it has left you a present from either end at a very inopportune time or place. Maybe it wakes you up on Saturday morning for food.

Yes, all of things are not pleasant. In fact, they become downright annoying after the millionth time they have happened. These are also things that you took responsibility for when you decided to get an animal. If you can’t handle taking care of a pet, then don’t get one. If you do get one, take responsibility.

When you really think about it ,though, all those little annoying things are all things that small children do, too. And if you put a staple gun to a child’s head, that’s an automatic go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200 card. Just as it should be.

I don’t understand why it shouldn’t also be that way for an animal.

A couple years ago, two teenage boys in a small town in Iowa broke into a local animal shelter and beat 23 cats to death. For fun. They got 23 days in jail, one for each cat. Not nearly enough, if you ask me.

I remember watching the news when they interviewed some family members of the kids who did it, and all they could say was that the punishment was too harsh and that they only killed animals.

Even if that was a valid point, which it isn’t, how many times have we heard about serial killers and mass murders and how they started out by torturing animals when they were kids? It is a well-known fact that people who kill and torture animals as kids are more likely to be violent when they are older.

And that is just what we need; more crazy,violent people who have already practiced killing on animals and are now ready for something bigger, like people.

They only reason I ever see the need for a people even to think of hurting an animal would be if they were being attacked and their life was threatened.

Honestly, though, when was the last time you saw a killer house cat viciously attacking someone? Yes, you do hear about dogs, someone’s pet, all of a sudden attacking someone. Why do think this happens? A lot of times it is because this animal has been abused and treated like an inanimate object, instead of a living, breathing creature that is ALIVE.

These animals don’t trust people because the people they are around hurt them, and they have to learn how to defend themselves.

For example, you might remember, a couple months back, there was a dog, Louie, who was attacked with a machete. I believe this happened because a neighbor didn’t like that the dog barked at night. This dog didn’t die, and if you saw the pictures, they were not pretty.

Louie had to have cosmetic surgery and also has to have doggie therapy to get over the fact that even though a human did that to him, not all humans are that cruel.

The KGGO morning personality, Lou, has started a petition to help make tougher laws against animal abuse. You can sign the petition by going to www.kggo.com/lou_ entombed_petition.htm.

As for my roommates and me, we have a cute, little bunny. He is not the smartest bunny on the block. He is also in his teen-age rebellion years in a bunny’s life cycle. He is bad sometimes and tests us, but we love him just the same.

If anyone comes near him with any form of weapon, that person will have to answer to me and one of my roommates. The other one may be on the attacker’s side. She has issues with the bunny.

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Jenny Joanning is a junior in journalism and mass communications from Norwalk.