Comments on: When Humans Attack

By: Becky

Becky — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:14:50 +0000

I think that when it’s done for food or if the animal might be a pest (like termites), I don’t have any issues with it. But to kill an animal for entertainment and/or to put them through a horrible/painful death is not something I can stomach.

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:25:26 +0000

The question is somewhat of a false dichotomy; only humans can respond as to the meaning, ergo the value, of life. I imagine if the world’s flora and fauna were suddenly given voice, we would hear that the regard with which the rest of the planet hold our lives to be far less than respectful.

My personal take is that all life has value – no life should be taken without serious consideration as to why, to include animals slain for food. There is no question that Americans, at least, would be far healthier and live far longer by substantially reducing their meat/fat intake. Moreover, the industrialization that has replaced the actual raising of animals in this country has worsened the lives of that livestock, as well as put at risk much of our food supply.

We, as a species, could live quite well without meat. That said, meat is tasty.

Man is a killer. We choose as a culture to live with that. However the chasm between killing for sustenance and killing out of indifference or for pleasure –be it human or animal – is imo so vast as to be morally unbridgeable. And that includes “hunting” as a ‘sport’.
On the other hand I knew many 18-19 year olds who always got wood at a confirmed kill, who reveled in the blood lust that scared & repulsed the rest of us. What happened to them, I wonder? What happened to those people who liked to kill people? How would they answer your questions? Those folks, or their progeny, are probably still around somewhere…

Mental illness is yet another cultural construct: an 18 year old working in a slaughter house, or volunteering every fall to bleed out the spring pigs, is still considered differently than an 18 year old cat killer. I do not know what the DSMIV has to say about that, but it is a fact that every serial killer caught in the last century has turned out to have started his ‘career’ by torturing and killing small animals. And those young soldiers, the ones that enjoyed killing people, where do they fit on the mental illness scale? Yes, it was “war”, though the war itself –like this last one – was morally bankrupt, a sham to cover monetary interests: however, because it was sanctified, are they exempt censure? What if they decide, as a casual hobby say, to start killing dogs? Are they now mentally ill?

Does it make a difference to the answers if we take an a priori Korean mindset? Because dogs are now dinner…

Barring a universal, non-religious based concept that to kill is wrong, I’m not sure we have the language to have this discussion.

As for bullfighting, all you can do is say “Ole!” And pass the sangria…

By: Melinda

Melinda — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:43:56 +0000

Is the life of an animal valuable? Yes.
Does eating animal meat make us killers? Technically, yes. And sometimes, if you think about it too much, you realize you can’t eat Bessie (at least I do).
Does killing an animal makes someone bad? Not necessarily. Pretty grey area here.
Is there a difference between mutilating an animal and killing it “gracefully”? Yes, I think so.
Is animal abuse an indicator of mental illness? I think it’s a gateway to killing something bigger. Re: the cat killer, I think he’ll go on to kill people.
What about when you are trained to do it by the history of your family being bull fighters? A little dicey here, but is that really torture? Some would say yes. I suppose it would depend on how strict the family is. If they say, “This is going to be your business” and you acquiesce and learn it, but don’t really like doing it, wouldn’t you yourself think that you’re torturing an innocent animal? But also, there’s the chance that you could be gored and killed yourself. So how does that play into it?
I love my cats. They shed too much and they’re constantly hungry (and I feed them PLENTY!), but they love to give me kisses on the nose and to snuggle. My dogs were always happy to see me, and that’s why I continue to give animals a home. They need it, but more than that, I need them.

And I agree with the NFL comment: more money means better treatment.

By: Burrowowl

Burrowowl — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:17:17 +0000

The value of human life varies from person to person, depending on who you’re asking. Same goes for animals. It all boils down to the monkeysphere: http://www.cracked.com/article_14990_what-monkeysphere.html

A bus blowing up in a third-world market killing dozens is far less emotionally damaging to a Missouri housewife than the death of her cat.

By: Markl

Markl — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:44:41 +0000

I have no problem with people killing animals for food. Some animals kill other animals for food, so does that make those animals evil. No. I do have a problem with hunting if the meat is not going to be consumed. I have a brother in law that works for a meat company and unlike the old days where the animal swere hoisted up by there heads and decapitated, the new methods are much more humane. The animal are loaded onto a platform that lowers down to an area filled with carbon monocide or something like that, and the animals just pass out and then die.
If people dont want to eat meat fine for them. That just means more for me. If god didnt want us to eat animals he wouldnt have made them so damn tasty.

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:06:45 +0000

Very interesting thoughts:

Is the life of an animal valuable? – I believe that all life has value, and like you said regarding religion I believe that as humans we have dominion over the plants and the animals.

Does eating animal meat make us killers? – No, it’s delicious, but I can understand how some people can be against eating animals.

Does killing an animal makes someone bad? is there a difference between mutilating an animal and killing it “gracefully”? Is animal abuse an indicator of mental illness – Regarding the cat killer (Just heard of it from you) and not being a therapist I have to think that it does… It starts with animals and what you said he was doing sounds sick and twisted… How long until he moves up to bigger game? I say, he should be put into a pit with (he killed 19 cats right) 19 big cats (lions, tigers) *bears?* and see if they show him mercy. … All joking aside, killing animals for pleasure could be a sign of some kind of issue, and shouldn’t be taken lightly… Regarding the NFL players that is always a classic example of people with money and are famous get special treatment…

- Regarding my beliefs, and knowing that some people have different ideas on this, believing that animals don’t have souls raising them to be food isn’t wrong, it’s a way of life. For some countries it makes more since not to feed the animal the grain because you can feed that to the people. It’s a complex issue that should be solved by helping to build infrastructure in those countries.

What about when you are trained to do it by the history of your family being bull fighters? – Bull Fighting is a sport, yes you are killing an animal but it’s a cultural sport, just like others might believe that the things we do are wrong, (and perhaps they are) I can’t go and say this is wrong… I’m not from there, it’s not apart of who I am… And rather then saying that it is wrong, I just don’t go to the matches (and since I don’t live in spain I don’t think anyone finds that odd)

I find that the real question is what life do you value the most… Do you put the life of an animal above that of a human, or visa versa? Would you let a person die so that an animal doesn’t have to?

I hope some of those thoughts made since, as I am at work and this is an interesting subject that I don’t think of that often.

By: emawkc

emawkc — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:57:08 +0000

The answers are:
1) Yes, but not as valuable a human life.
2) Yes, but not murderers. Many animals kill to survive.
3) Not necessarily. Intent plays a large part here.
4) Yes, there is a difference.
5) Usually. If your mutilating and torturing any living thing to get some kind of sick kick out of being cruel, then there’s something wrong with you.
6) Well, I don’t know if I would call bull fighting a sign of mental illness, but I think NOT bull fighting is probably better that bull fighting. It’s probably a cultural reflection of the general human blood lust that leads people to enjoy boxing and other pseudoviolent sports like football (American), rugby and full-contact sudden-death golf.