AUSTRALIA — 23-year-old Naomi Anderson was sentenced to 180 hours of community service for the crime of decapitating a mouse with a steak knife and then posting a video of it on Facebook.

The video was described in court as “extremely graphic,” and the mouse supposedly took 40 seconds to die. That could mean one of two things: 1) Anderson slowly sawed the poor rodent’s head off, or 2) Mice can live for 40 seconds after their heads get chopped off. Either way, she’s very disturbed.

Anderson could have been sentenced to two years in prison for her crimes, but the judge only sentenced her to community service because he thought she appeared remorseful.

The judge also banned her from owning a pet for the next two years, and gave her an 18-month good behavior bond, which is like being on probation. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) considered the outcome to be a great success for Australia.

“This case… shows that you are not immune to prosecution for animal cruelty offences that are posted on the Internet and social media sites,” said an RSPCA spokesperson.

You hear that, Australia? Don’t post your sick videos online, or you might get community service.

Three to six months in a psychiatric hospital undergoing intense observation would’ve been more appropriate. It has nothing to do with punishment for killing a mouse — many of us have killed mice, but we used mousetraps or squashed them with our feet. We don’t saw their heads off and record it.

Let’s pretend for a moment that Naomi Anderson really is regretful for killing that mouse. That doesn’t change the fact that she did it and then posted the video online. If that’s not a red flag for sociopathic tendencies, then I don’t know what is. What’s next? A dog, and then a human after that.

I’d also keep an eye on anyone who clicked “Like” on that video on Facebook.

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