Murdered, why?

Our beloved Gopher Tortoise Harriet, on her way back to her tunnel after eating.

Yesterday our local news, as usual, found a heinous, outrageous story about an animal that had been tortured and killed.
It had been murdered.
The animal at the center of this media firestorm, was an Endangered Gopher Tortoise.
As it was airing  yesterday,  I looked out the kitchen window at our beloved Harriet who was sitting under the tree, munching quietly on a tiny plant.
She looked so peaceful, so happy.
She does not know that she  is one of the lucky ones.
Many in this state are not, they do not have a safe place to live where they are not disturbed.
Gopher Tortoises here are continuously being uprooted at the whim and pleasure of greedy developers who want to build new Condos, new Shopping Centers, new anything, new everything.
Just build baby!
And get  ” those damn turtles out of their way,  they have things to build! “
Because they are protected, they are supposed to be moved as new things are built.
Do we really believe that they truly care if a Tortoise accidentally gets buried alive in the process?
Oops!
My heart broke for the one that was tortured, who suffered and died.
I said a small prayer for it and then immediately became angry for what has now become so common here and elsewhere in the world, constant, unnecessary, violence directly aimed at innocent animals who cannot fight back, or defend themselves.
Why has this abuse against animals become so commonplace, have we all become immune to it?
Are we all now completely desensitized?
This should come as no shock, considering the fact that nearly 100%  of every news story, every single day, is about violence.
Two things are now quite apparent to me and they should be to you as well.
Our News media here in Florida seems to be obsessed with stories that involve an animal being hurt.
We also have some very sick people living in this state, who seem to take great pleasure in harming  animals.
Were those who committed this terrible crime hardened criminals?
No.
Were these gang members meeting an initiation requirement?
No.
The dastardly perpetrators in this case of vile and extreme  evil,  were two teenage girls.
Their reason.
Only they know the answer to this.
Threats have been  made against the girls and their families.
FWC are naturally deeply involved and the father of one of the girls has made an understandable comment that there will be ” no more Facebook or Smart phones “ in their house.
He will allow the local Law Enforcement and the Legal System to take its course.
The entire series of event surrounding this despicable crime should be making an even bigger case for a return to some sort of morality, humanity and just plain compassion in people today.
Where,  as a species, have we gone wrong, that now our children are doing these kinds of things to not only innocent, but Endangered Creatures, that have no way to protect themselves.
So, what started out yesterday as a local horror story, has now become a Global Horror story, as it has been picked up by News agencies everywhere.
How we must look to the world?
What must they think of us?
As Parents, as Humans, we had better take a long, hard cold, look in the mirror.
Our lack of Humanity and Compassion has come home to roost.
Are our children now capable of murdering wild things, just for the pleasure of watching them die?
Dear Parents, dear Readers, will you please talk with your children and ask them what they think about this story?
If we are to survive as a species, we had better start finding out who and what we really are.
And what we are capable of doing to innocents?
We had better have an answer to this question:  Murdered, why?
 
There are three links below, I want nothing more to do with this story:
Two girls face threats after torturing and killing turtle in Florida
Florida teens face charges for torturing, killing threatened tortoise, posting video online
Florida Girls Light Tortoise on Fire, Set Off Hunt for Vigilante Justice