Well, some people think of pets as just another disposable plaything....
I was thinking about this earlier, and my question is, do you believe the individuals who dreamt this up honestly just wanted to provide cat owners with a hygienic way of cleaning their cat, and got carried away?
I've never known a cat to ENJOY water, but somehow, if only they could have come up with something more open, something with finer spray, that could perhaps passively restrain him without locking him into a tomb-like machine? In other words, was it made to look like a machine, to satisfy OUR idea of cleanliness? I would think it would be dark and scary in there....I know I would be, if I were a cat!
And, yes, people do sadistically kill animals....and it's not a "uniquely American" thing either....I clearly remember reading about some unbalanced woman in the UK boilwashing her cat in order to exact revenge on a lover who had spurned her...
I have the feeling that this is the sort of thing that goes on all the time, yet witnesses are cowed by peer pressure, or maybe the fear of being identified with the "PETA agenda", and just don't report it.
No pun intended, but these things are usually copycat crimes, and who knows if we (meaning me) really aren't aggravating the situation by reporting on them....
I'm actually a lot more troubled about this, after thinking about it, than when I saw the video itself this morning.