A ringleader in a global monkey torture network exposed by the BBC has been charged by US federal prosecutors.

Michael Macartney, 50, who went by the alias “Torture King”, was charged in Virginia with conspiracy to create and distribute animal-crushing videos.

Mr Macartney was one of three key distributors identified by the BBC Eye team during a year-long investigation into sadistic monkey torture groups.

Two women have also been charged in the UK following the investigation.

Warning: This article contains disturbing content

Mr Macartney, a former motorcycle gang member who previously spent time in prison, ran several chat groups for monkey torture enthusiasts from around the world on the encrypted messaging app Telegram.

  • rottingleaf
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    2 months ago

    Typing errors happen.

    Yes, they are. Why are you arguing with something which can be checked instantaneously?

    There’s no such thing as canis familiaris, it’s called canis lupus familiaris, familiaris is subspecies.

    Other subspecies are various wolves.

    This has been my point the whole time; you think wild wolves are the same as pet dogs, and refuse to accept reality.

    By classification they literally are.

    Also I have a big dog, a person lives in the same building who has a big dog which is in fact such a hybrid (or maybe just a wolf). They, eh, have more experience than most dog owners, but the difference between a dog and a wolf is not qualitative.

    Also could you stop with that tone? You don’t seem smart arguing truisms if that’s not clear.

    • Dasus@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Yes, they are. Why are you arguing with something which can be checked instantaneously?

      Most ironic thing I’ve read in weeks.

      Yes, some consider it a subspecies of the wolf, and it is named as such, but it is not the same species and you won’t find anyone credible to argue they are.

      https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1700398

      Dogs are literally hypersociable canids that can eat starch (and the genes for that function 28x better than in gray wolves, to amend the earlier 5-10x estimate. and no, being able to digest starch is nowhere near the same as being sensitive to lactose in adulthood).

      By classification they literally are.

      They literally aren’t.

      They share a common ancestor. That’s it. A very close common ancestor, but both of which they evolved from. Saying they’re the same species is like saying Neanderthals are the same species as homo sapiens sapiens. I wrote sapiens twice, because you seem to try to be anal with linnaean nomenclature, thinking it’ll compensate for your overt ignorance on the subject. It doesn’t. Linnaean taxonomy isn’t always prescriptive, as names can be given before we have a complete understanding of something. Yes, it is “canis lupus familiaris”, but the animal the dog evolved from is properly “canis lupus” and the gray wolf we refer to as “canis lupus” is actually a subspecies of canis lupus, yet to be distinctly named.

      Why are you arguing with something which can be checked instantaneously?

      https://biologyofbehavior.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/are-dogs-and-wolves-the-same-species/

      And again, you propose to introduce packs of wolves into POPULATION CENTERS, saying it’s gonna be better for everything and everyone and most of all, more moral. That ignores the fact that unlike you think, they aren’t hypersociable, and unlike you think, they won’t limit themselves to deer and then die off. Dogs work better together than dogs do, and they’re highly intelligent. Why on Earth would you make an inane argument such as “wolves eat deer out, wolves die of hunger”, which first of all, supposes that the wolves get rid of the entire population of deer, which wouldn’t be healthy (which is why it’s called “deer population management”, not “deer extermination”), and secondly that wolves wouldn’t attempt to find a secondary source of food or that an entire population of deer didn’t grow the numbers of wolf packs and that wolf packs are never dangerous to people.

      You must have lead such a sheltered life. Too bad, I bet you could understand a bit of what I’m saying if that weren’t so. I’m against hunting wolves, and single wolves aren’t a threat to people. But large wolf packs are. It’d be beyond childish to pretend they’re like a litter of puppies, like you’re doing. It’s beyond ridiculous.

      This is what you’re proposing to do in Central-European population centres, because you personally feel icky thinking about the fact that death is a natural part of life.

      You’re even a self-proclaimed meat-eater. I don’t eat industrially farmed meat. I’m a flexitarian, but I have morals. You don’t. You stuff your face with burgers without thinking a second about the what the cow went through to get that beef. Yet you DARE criticise the morality of people who actually care for nature and conserve it’s ecology?

      • rottingleaf
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        2 months ago

        You’re even a self-proclaimed meat-eater.

        That was another person.

        I’ve looked at your links, as far as I could understand what they are about, they don’t contradict me.

        However, this is not important since you are talking to yourself, hence I’m leaving this thread.

        • Dasus@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          So that’s a “I can’t say I don’t eat meat, because I do”?

          And… still won’t be able to answer these “other ways” of managing deer besides hunting?

          Not to mention skipping how silly it is to claim dogs are the same as wolves.

          And to top it off

          Got it.

          ##Why are you arguing with something which can be checked instantaneously? :D

          https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1700398

          https://biologyofbehavior.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/are-dogs-and-wolves-the-same-species/

          Why do you feel the the need to lie on an online forum? You didn’t read the links. Hell you didn’t even read the sentence I linked.

          #The story is very romantic: man and wolf, hunting and foraging together.  Unfortunately there is simply no evidence; and if I’m being charitable, the probability that dogs evolved directly from grey wolves is extremely unlikely.  While many similarities are perceived to exist between dog and wolf, upon closer examination, the similarities are almost impossible to find.

          This](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-wolf-pack) is what you’re proposing to do in Central-European population centres, because you personally feel icky thinking about the fact that death is a natural part of life.

          Dogs didn’t even evolve from the gray wolf and definitely aren’t the same species and there are no “other ways” of managing deer, mister I-cant-stand-behind-my-words