How is Eating Meat Wrong when Animals Eat other Animals?
Explain that double standard to me oh wise vegetarians...................... Death is clearly a part of life; there is no lifeform on earth that does not benefit off of the process of death. Many fungi live off of the flesh off dead carcasses. Animals kill their prey in the wild to survive; do you suggest they go on vegetarian diets? We, as humans, are doing what comes naturally to us. Also, eating meat greatly expanded the brain size of homosapiens; the added protein gave us extra strength and intelligence. If you look at our teeth, they are clearly omnivorous. Noticed how sharp our back fangs are? Is it not that way for a reason?
Do you think animals like Cows, chickens, Fish, truly feel pain like we do? ?
Yes, animals feel pain. Certainly birds and mammals feel pain in the same way we do, and they react the same way. However, because most of that is down to reflexes, we don't know how well they understand what is happening- they do seem to know that something hurts, that's for sure, but as we can't ask them we don't know how much they know. Fish are more difficult- they produce all the chemicals and have the right receptors to feel pain, but their brains are very simple compared to mammalian brains. In fact, they're simple enough that we're not sure if they can even process the information that reaches them when the fish are hurt. In a good slaughterhouse, the animals will die quickly without having time to be afraid or in pain. They are stunned first so they can't feel anything and then killed- usually with a bolt to the head (from a big gun thing) or having their throat slit, depending on the animal and whether or not they're being used for religious slaughter (religious slaughter doesn't ban stunning as the animal's heart is still beating). If you're worried about how the animals are treated while they are alive and when they are slaughtered, try to buy organic or free range if you can afford to. These animals have led more natural lives. I do not believe a god made certain animals for us to eat, however I do think the animals of this world evolved in a way that means we need predators and prey to keep everything in balance- meaning it is okay to eat meat if you want.
Why do some people think it's animal cruelty to feed a snake?
You should NEVER feed wild mice to your snake, they carry all sorts of parasites, and could also be carrying poison. I know someone who ended up with a dead lizard because they fed it a mouse, the vet concluded that the mouse ate poison. To feed your snake mice that you catch is pure stupidity. I feel its cruel to feed snakes LIVE food. 99% of snakes successfully can be taught to eat pre-killed food, they are not particularly intelligent and a pre-killed, warmed up rodent being wriggled around by the owner fools them into thinking the mouse/rat is alive. There is no need to cause suffering to another animal, and I say this as a snake owner, and as an owner of ball pythons, one of the notorious picky feeders amongst reptiles. I have been keeping and handling snakes for 3 years, not a huge amount of time compared to some but I have never had to live feed in that time...live feed should be a last resort only. A wild mouse can escape, a mouse put into a cage with a live snake has no chance for escape and must feel utter terror. Aside from this, snakes can and DO die from rodent bites. Mice, and more so rats, have teeth and they DO fight back. When the purpose is to preserve your pets life and keep it healthy and long lived, it seems backwards to unnecessarily feed live mice that can actually kill your snake. For the rare snake that refuses to take pre-killed food,I think live feeding is fine. For the rest of them, its unecessary and risky.
Animal cruelty.?
I love the idea! But where to start? Is it going to be an animal shelter? Will it be a no-kill shelter? Or will it just be like a website where people can get matched up with pets? In my opinion, the best place to start would be to talk to people who have made a success of this kind of venture. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah comes to mind. Out of all the no-kill shelters, these guys have it down to an art! At first, I'm sure you'll be depending on donations. People donating time and money to help your cause. While I don't think it's "wrong" to sell the rescued pets, I think it would be a better idea to offer them free to good homes (after LOTS of screening) and just let the people donate. With the dog I adopted from Best Friends the adoption fee would have been about $100. That would have covered his neutering surgery, microchip, etc. As it was, after seeing the facility and all the wonderful people and pets, I donated a little more than the fee would have been. That was four years ago. I still send donations in my "little man's" name every month. On the other hand, just because someone can't afford a large donation doesn't mean that they couldn't provide a wonderful, loving home to some poor abused animal. As far as a dog to help you find and rescue these animals, I think one will present himself. I also think it will be one YOU rescued! This will be a huge job. Good luck and bless you for wanting to get into this line of work! Additional: How great that you know what you want to do in life at such a young age! I'd definately start with contacting some of the no kill shelters and seeing how they got their start. I already mentioned Best Friends. Another good one is North Shore Animal League. I think both of those places have people who live right there in the facilities. As far as your own home town goes, have you offered to volunteer at the Humane Society or in a nearby vet's office? Until you can realize your dream of your own shelter, you can do sooooo much good in your spare time. And gain the experience you're going to need. Again, Good Luck!!! I admire you so much for having this goal!
Are you proud to be human?
I'm neither proud or ashamed. There are some wonderful humans that have lived in this world, people that dedicated their lives to humanity, and to helping others. And on the other side, there are some horrible people, that rape, kill, slaughter, and spread misery, and fear. And in the middle, there's everyone else. The ones that just do their job, because they're told to do it, and therefore have no responsibility for their actions. The ones that eat their meat, and don't wonder how it got to their table. The ones that slaughter animals, that castrate them without anaesthesia, that keep them in small cages where they can't move, and they don't feel bad, because they're only doing their job. The ones that take part in executions, and may end up executing an innocent man, but it's not their responsibility, because they were told to do it. The ones that go to the army, and kill other people, without even knowing why they're doing it. We do what we're told, so we can't be blamed right? Wrong! We need to start taking responsibility for our actions. Not just about the animals, but about everything. We have to start getting information about what's really happenning around us, and know why we do what we do. There's probably a very small percentage of humans that are "bad". The rest of us, just cater to their commands, as if we were hypnotized. Well it's time to wake up. Most of us wouldn't be able to kill an animal so we could eat it. Yet we have no problem buying it dead at the butcher's...