Animal Rights 2:Pets

I want to talk to you about pets and the arguments some people use. Should pets have more rights? And so forth and so forth. 
For starters several countries in Western Europe as well as the United States and Canada and Australia have all adopted strict regulations when it comes to animal cruelty and animal rights. But are these enough?

I come from Cyprus, a small island in the E.U, where animal rights barely matter. Few movements are starting to appear and they are requesting animal policing and better animal laws. It is a new thing in Cyprus for people to care about animal welfare. What kind of rights should animals have and where do we draw the line between laws affective animals and laws affecting humans.

 Senseless beatings and abuse of animals. This is one thing that really grinds my gears. Want to yell and scream at your pet? Although it does make me uncomfortable and I disagree, it is like parenting  so I kinda can't intervene although I don't like it. However beating up or abusing your pets is a horrible act. Should it be punished the same way as a human being abuse? I hear people saying yes. I am okay with that. I want the same rights for animals and humans. However others don't feel so comfortable with this and need to distinguish themselves from animals due to potential, sentience etc. People argue that the penalty for human murder shouldn't be the same as  an animal  but others argue that if you are willing to torture or kill animals then you are capable of doing the same thing with animals.
 For me it really doesn't matter. I want those people punished. I want them to be punished severely. Whether it is the same as a human equivalent, worse or better I don't mind although I prefer equal rights. As long as the sentence is severe enough to either discourage or punish the perpetrators then I am happy.

Pets in restaurants and public places. This is perhaps the least of our worries but they are important to some. Should pets be allowed in public places such as restaurants, pubs etc? I honestly see no reason not to. If the pets are behaving properly and there are no hygiene reasons(for example a dog or cat pooping in the restaurant, potentially poisonous pets etc) then I see no reason as to why animals shouldn't be allowed in public places. My question however is, should we bring them there? 
A lot of animals have sensitive hearing. Bringing a dog to a restaurant/cafe/pub that plays music that is louder than normal may mean that the animal will suffer. Usually they will show it but just as humans can tolerate loud noises so can some animals. It doesn't mean they enjoy it, but rather that they just tolerate it because they have no other place to go. So maybe we shouldn't be as sensitive about leaving our pets at home or with someone with a little while as we go out. If not then pet friendly places may be a choice. If they don't exist then I agree that they should be introduced, with the government offering incentive to owners allowing pets.

Overall although pets are much better off in Western countries the situation is still bad in a lot of places in the world. Even so regulations need to be stricter and more monitored. But perhaps instead of that maybe we should focus on making sure that the rest of the world shares the same views with us on pets.