Mr O,on the face of it, it sounds reasonable when considering the full emotional spectrum of humans and their antics.
Just to pick up, or correct other commentors previous points, animals do kill for pleasure and I would suggest that the best people to speak to and are most familiar with this subject, are farmers.
They'l tell you of the senseless slaughter of lambs and other livestock by other animals.
And NOT for food!

ALTRAV,

What animals kill farm animals for pleasure?

Misanthrop,

Dingoes. Wild dogs. Wild cats. Probably wild pigs.

I lived in a self-determining Aboriginal community which had 8000 acres of land and a stud flock of Merinoes. They were having trouble with dogs getting into the sheep, so they got rid of the sheep.

Joe

Altrav,

i think one of US mass murders at high school, the parents of the youth were award winning state school teachers.

At the time, this was a shock to me.

The youth felt neglected by his parents, and that he often felt ridiculed.

Even with what seems caring and well informed parents to most of us, a person can go haywire and commit some serious sick crimes for his or her own reasons.

Then there are others, much less fortunate in life with low income and less obvious advantages, that turn out to be great or competent individuals and/or societal examples.

LOUDmouth,

Dingoes. Wild dogs. Wild cats.

Are you aware that these animals hunt prey for food? They are hunters and kill to survive.

They have evolved as hunters. They eat things that eat other things. They act on instinct which tells them to kill in order to survive. They don't have any choice in it, they are compelled by evolution to do it. Every kill represents a meal whether or not it is consumed.