Actually, it's the reverse. Statistics show that almost every serial killer first start by killing animals, showing an utter disregard for animal life ... that eventually grew and spilled over to getting off by snuffing human life.
Sad, but true.
I kind of go through all of this a bit in the beginning of my book, but there is nothing wrong with watching combat, nothing.
People always want to know who's the fastest, who jumps the farthest, who's the toughest, etc.
It's just human nature to be competitive, and there is nothing wrong with this at all.
But it doesn't have to be evil.
We all should strive for CONstructive competition, not DEstructive competition.
We can find out who the winners are without taking the lives of the losers.
We can find out the winners without cheating each other, rubbing dogs, or letting our dogs down to die.
It's the difference between SPORTSMANSHIP and CLASS ... and lack of sportsmanship (and even a lack of basic humanity).
Compassion for others is a decidedly HUMAN trait ... and those individuals who lack this trait are simply DEFECTIVE human beings.
Jack