I think that all cultures are intrinsically compassionate towards animals. In some places, poverty, lack of appropriate education or desperation may lead to neglect that is less likely in affluent societies.
I have only witnessed one act of cruelty in which culture or ethnicity had any connection at all. Many years ago in the Caprivi Strip, in what is now Namibia, some women tortured a dog as I passed by. One of the women loudly said in English "white people don't like it when we do this." I hurried away so that there would be no more reason to hurt the dog. However, it had nothing to do with the people of Caprivi being normally cruel to animals. The area was then under the control of apartheid South Africa, and many people felt that they were being treated worse than the administrators' family pets. The cruelty was therefore a political protest, not a cultural norm.
Britain calls itself a nation of animal lovers but cruelty and neglect still occur. A guard dog at a tyre outlet near where I live barked at me every time I walked past, in all weathers, night and day. I greeted it and felt sorry for it being out in the cold and rain by itself. A few weeks ago, Britain had the worse freeze that I can remember. For the first time, my home's pipes froze and dripping water formed columns rather than icicles. I thought of the guard dog. "It is dead", I said to myself. I must have been right, as I have never seen it again and nothing barks when I walk past.
In Britain there are many street beggars with dogs. While I was in an Oxford bed-and-breakfast some years ago, I knew that a beggar and his dog were sitting on the pavement outside. As I lay in bed, I heard a commotion. A dog screamed more than howled and a man wailed "you've killed him." A passing drunk had kicked the dog to death.
I'm glad that the animal you were worried about turned out to be okay.
