I would offer you hard scientific proof in the vein of the fact that animals do in fact feel pain, but I feel as though you would merely write it off.

Said proof may very well exist. I'm not particularly doubting it does. I just don't think that that has any bearing on the matter.

when the basis for our current society is built above transcending them

When it comes to humans, it is yes. And as I have said elsewhere, when the law is involved as far as animals go, then the law trumps my personal beliefs.

I.e. "Cruel things" would be semantics at the very best and simply wrong at the worst.

This is incorrect, and I have talked about this elsewhere in the thread if you are interested, but at this point I'm more interested in talking about other stuff with you.

Something that someone with a functioning sense of empathy wouldn't agree with.

This is simply not true. I am a trained counselor, and I have a sense of empathy- for humans.

It's basically like we're trying to tell you that if you throw a ball at the ground, it will bounce, and you're telling us you don't believe in gravity.

That is not a valid comparison. Gravity is a fact about the universe.

Morals are a set of beliefs that happen to be believed by a group at a specific point in time. Morals change, over time and over place. There is no "facts of morality" or any universal morals.

Ayn Rand believed that humans are, and should be selfish, after serving their self interests first because what else is there to do? (was her thought process). Your philosophy aligns with this, in that you seem to have no interest in the suffering of animals, and is the basis with your disagreement with everyone else.

Interesting. I'll have to read more about her, she seems to have an interesting train of thought.

Animals, at least on the very broad general sense, won't take an action unless it will have some direct/indirect benefit for them.

Answer me this. The humans in the loris vidoes are clearly getting entertainment, pleasure, companionship, validation (through social acceptance via Facebook/Youtube likes), or some other sort of benefit from doing what they do to the loris.

How is this any different than animals that, as you say, "won't take an action unless it will have some direct/indirect benefit for them"?