The mother asked the court for assistance to keep the children safe. To punish the child the father took the boy and his pet cat for a drive on the freeway where he ejected the cat from the car as the child watched. That child's request that he not have to visit his father was granted. I understand that Abraham Maslow, a world renowned psychologist who radiated kindness and good will, had experienced his mother killing a litter of kittens as punishment for feeding the kittens after she had told him not to. It's reported that Dr. Maslow never forgave his mother for that act of cruelty which she intended to be a lesson, a form of discipline.
Children love their pets, and pets also help children learn valuable life skills.
Pets trust and depend on their young masters which helps children learn to be trustworthy and responsible. Pets learn to obey their young masters which helps children learn to respect authority. On the other hand, from parents who use pets to manipulate or control, children learn not to trust, not to love, not to care and not to respect authority. Moreover, these children frequently assume that a parent who can betray or discard a helpless animal could also betray or discard a helpless child. They learn to fear As with Dr. Maslow's mother, parents who fail to understand this may well find themselves never forgiven.