"no
animals are property/chattel, how can you murder a cat?"
Yeah, that's ridiculous. Animals are supposed to be properties, so I can't understand people wanting to elevate the status of animals.
Now, don't pull that slavery crap. That would be an accidental application and a weak analogy. They were humans, not a different specie. If you're to elevate the status of animals, then we must all turn to vegetarians and forbid any harm done to any creatures. Remember in India the cows are worshipped, so are the rats/mice and the snakes. This is just so preposterous.
The article does not even care to tell us the ages of the accused. Perhaps they were little kids. There's no way I would give a kid life imprisonment for torturing an animal. On the other hand, if it were an adult, I would consider a stiff punishment since chances are that he would harm a human being too. Nonetheless, there's no way I would give anyone life imprisonment over an animal's life. The wild life animals sure as hell and admirably don't give a hoot when they hurt a human being, and it isn't always in self-defence; nor do the crazy so-called pets that attack a defenceless person.
This is beyond preposterous.