There is pretty convincing evidence that there's a link between childhood torture of animals and aggressive, violent behavior as an adult, which is particularly strong in serial abusers and killers. This link is also true of children who witness cruelty to animals, which I imagine desensitizes them to the behavior. We need to find ways to intervene early on before aggression is normalized and more prone to escalate into more violent aggression in adulthood. Animal abuse needs to be taken seriously by law enforcement with penalties, but also with rehabilitation. The cycle of abuse needs to be stopped.