> “If you cause stress to an animal that's probably not a good thing,” says Jill Goldman, a certified animal behaviorist in southern California. “If you do it for laughs it makes me question your humanity.” And I question his/hers intelligence. People do pranks and scare other people for laughs all the time and we don't question their humanity. And suddenly pranking a cat with a cucumber makes you subhuman?
I think it's the asymmetry of the relationship. Pranking another human is an interaction of equals. Pranking something that's (totally) dependent on you, and lacks anything resembling the same world view, is a bit more cruel. But hey, people have pets for all sorts of reasons, right?
A tennis match is an interaction of equals (if you're at a comparable skill level).
Pranking hardly, since the prankster knows things the other person does not, and even puts elaborate plots and props against his prank target.
And of course some pranksters have whole teams to help them out (e.g. some college prank where 3 persons prank another etc). Or even whole crews, as in TV pranks.
Is Aston Kutcher inhuman for doing Punk'd?
The reason I don't consider it inhuman (inherently I mean, sometimes it can be when overboard) is that while it causes a little stress/surprise etc, it's usually good natured, and don't mean to do actual harm to the target.