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Pets(and why the world is a better place because of them)


Yy4u

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I thought PETA was the bunch that loved critters more than humans. I am surprised they support killing shelter animals.

Really phone? We needed to see that 4 times. Ugh. Sorry. I will clean it up tomorrow.

 

I get that sometimes, it is necessary to euthanize. PETA's rate of "saving" over euthanizing is like (exaggerated figures to make a point) 10/300

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I have a cat. But we refer to her as the cats.

 

She is the largest cat I have ever seen. We're thinking of calling NASA and telling them we have a black hole for them to observe.

 

But, as my friend once said, "cats tend to do the fat."

The only reason they "tend" to is because usually they're kept inside, unlike dogs, and they don't get to go on walks and play fetch, unlike dog.

 

Cats need exercise too and not to be fed excessively. Albeit the exercise part is a bit harder to do than a dog. Dogs can be just as lazy as cats are stereotyped as. Activity & healthy diets lead to longer living cats, and that is part of the responsibility of the pet owners.

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#shotsfired <-- Zao

As to euthanising animals, I would imagine the charity takes everything into account before making such a decision, how much space they have at the inn; what it would cost to keep the animal; the chances that the animal will be adopted in a reasonable time etc. If after all of these thought processes have been gone through it is decided that the space taken up by one animal with little chance of being adopted in the near future would be better served by another animal with more chance of being adopted, I see no problem with the animal being euthanised.

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#shotsfired <-- Zao

As to euthanising animals, I would imagine the charity takes everything into account before making such a decision, how much space they have at the inn; what it would cost to keep the animal; the chances that the animal will be adopted in a reasonable time etc. If after all of these thought processes have been gone through it is decided that the space taken up by one animal with little chance of being adopted in the near future would be better served by another animal with more chance of being adopted, I see no problem with the animal being euthanised.

PETA does not. PETA believes in euthanizing pets/strays full stop. Don't believe me, there are plenty of sources for this I can cite. It's not like an animal shelter that's struggling to adopt out animals and has to make the hard decisions.

 

This is an organization that rakes in much more cash than your local shelter or pound, that believes in the ethical treatment of animals, and ethical treatment to them is eliminating animals, putting them into bags, and tossing them in the dumpster. (For reals)

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What would be the alternative?

A complicated process where we learn anirmals should be treated with dignity and responsibly, where people would stop buying and selling dogs like if they were candy, where only responsible people would adopt them and treat them as parts of their family, and where we slowly reach a descent population, hand in hand with our capacity to take care of them (after all, it was US who reared them) and responsible sterilization and care

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That would be a lovely scenario to be in but I fear it is unachievable.

 

As with anything, it is good to keep an ideal in mind (the way we think something should be) but, ultimately, we must be realists when it comes to making decisions about what we are doing and how we are going to solve problems that affect the real world. Real problems need real solutions.

 

To play Devil's Advocate, why should animals be treated with respect? Animals are not sentient, they lack higher brain function and, most importantly, the philosophy of mind, meaning they cannot distinguish their own self from that of any other. What makes them [pets] more deserving of respect than a plant, the fish we eat or the cattle we raise for slaughter?

 

I ask whether you would also offer the same rights for farm animals, all of which routinely undergo the same experiences of abandoned pets (if not worse experiences)?

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That would be a lovely scenario to be in but I fear it is unachievable.

 

As with anything, it is good to keep an ideal in mind (the way we think something should be) but, ultimately, we must be realists when it comes to making decisions about what we are doing and how we are going to solve problems that affect the real world. Real problems need real solutions.

 

To play Devil's Advocate, why should animals be treated with respect? Animals are not sentient, they lack higher brain function and, most importantly, the philosophy of mind, meaning they cannot distinguish their own self from that of any other. What makes them [pets] more deserving of respect than a plant, the fish we eat or the cattle we raise for slaughter?

 

I ask whether you would also offer the same rights for farm animals, all of which routinely undergo the same experiences of abandoned pets (if not worse experiences)?

I agree, this is just an idealized world. And your points are obviously valid and many of them would lead us to a contradiction... So here is my view...

Household animals (dogs, cats) have been reared so much that we have "humanized them" and while they do not have the sentience aspect we do, they do seem to have feelings and emotions very related to the humans they are close to (and let's accept this, as we know it to be truth; what is the nature of where this comes from is a discussion for another kind of topic). Hence, they deserve respect in as much as we created in them those emotional response towards our treatment of them.

Animals raised for feeding, on the other hand, are not so "humanized" and hence may not go in deep into the same rationale, but then again, as living creatures we also owe them respect, and I personally believe the raising, herding and slaughtering of these animals for human consumption should be done with as much dignity, care and humanity as possible, without ignoring the fact that it is ACTUALLY a slaughtering...

I know it may sound contradictory but nonetheless possible. My grand-grand mother (died 5 years ago) use to have chickens

and hens at her house. All of them had name, and she used to go into her yard and be nice to them, even caress them, and the hens would come and sit on her a lot... And even then, once a year for X-Mas she used to sacrifice a hen for dinner. And I remember she always saying that she did it as quickly and painless as possible because it was "one of her dear hens"...

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The same concept applies for Horses, Elegarth. We've humanized them. Personally, I like horses, they're smart and also have emotions. Horses are not only useful, but they're not treated like cattle. Personally, I want to eat some horse meat though. I've asked a lot of my fellow Americans in person if they'd eat horse. Many of them were as disgusted at the thought as if they were asked if they'd eat a cat or a dog.

 

But why? Other first world countries serve horse meat in restaurants and they have horses just like Americans do and they also treat them not like cattle. Americans don't serve horse meat and I think culturally a lot of people would be against eating a horse.

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I've tasted horse meat knowingly, and it seemed pretty similar to beef anyway

I had the chance to try American Bison up in North Dakota, but couldn't find the place. All I know from those who got some from that place, was that it was expensive and delicious. Later, I forgot to ask exact directions, so I missed out. :/

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