Liagolas wrote:"It is the inclination of the Dominion to agree with those ambassadors who have said that this subject does not warrant international legislation," the Mouth says. "Why should the people of Losthaven care what happens to animals in the Dominion or in Bananistan or Imperium Anglorum or anywhere else?"
The author probably feels that while animals are non-sapient, they are still sentient, and that being cruel to sentient beings is, or should be, considered morally wrong. Especially considering the category.
Mind you, I don't necessarily agree with it being morally wrong, but rather it being pointless behaviour, because it only teaches sentient creatures as defined in the proposal to fear the sapient being(s) that hurt it. For sapient beings fear can be used effectively to teach desired behaviour models, but this is not always, or even very often, the same case when it comes to merely sentient creatures. Especially not if you want to teach them something, rather than just scare them away.
...although now I'm wondering if hurting them to scare them away would count as "intentional cruelty", or just as "necessary evil"?