I’m a firm believer in live and let live, but when it comes to people who are such OTT animal lovers that they lash out at everyone who is not, I just don’t get it.

If you love animals and want to devote your life to them, treating them like your children, go ahead, it’s not going to affect me in the slightest. Pets can be cute and loveable and give loyal, unconditional love, so I can understand the attraction.

What does annoy me though is how animal lovers become almost violent towards people who do not share their besotted infatuation with their pets and any other four legged-creature.  Personally, I get terribly upset and emotional when I hear of child abuse and neglect, but (at the risk of being stoned to death) I have no problem saying that cruelty to animals does not have the same devastating effect on me.  Of course, I now have to follow this with a disclaimer that obviously it is wrong; I would never harm an animal myself etc. etc.

It says a lot about the present atmosphere that I even have to go out of my way to say that.

I feel we have now got to a point that if you do not cover Facebook with OMG! HOW CRUEL CAN YOU BE????  type of comments whenever animal abuse is mentioned, then you are looked at with the suspicion that you might actually be one of those who would take delight in torturing an animal for fun.

From what I saw in reaction to singer Moira Stafrace’s comment (which has now been deleted) when she wrote:  “I can do with someone removing all the stray cats in my area, they’re a nuisance, filthy and disgusting”, I really think we are going just the slightest bit overboard with this animal crusade. Ms Stafrace was called all sorts of names and the hostility towards her became more and more pronounced and for what? Just because she does not like strays?

Yes, animals are innocent creatures and deliberate cruelty is definitely the sign of a very sick, disturbed mind, but I feel we are going a bit too far when we pour venom and hatred against each other as people in our scramble to prove just how much we love animals. To me, it makes no sense at all, because kindness and respect should be the mark of you as a human being in all your interactions, and not solely reserved for furry animals.

There are people who say they prefer animals to humans, perhaps because they have been treated badly, but by turning into snarling balls of hate just because someone does not share their opinion is, to me, a contradiction of the first degree.

Not everyone is an animal lover, and not everyone goes around killing cats and dogs  – there are those of us who are somewhere in between. So please, tone down the hysterics and stop trying to tell others how they should feel about animals.