A nation of animal lovers?

[Snafu03]

Reading a thread on here that concerned animal cruelty and observing peoples sense of disgust over the matter, it got me thinking.

I feel just as sickened when I read the thread but I would happily squash a spider that was freaking me out or swot an annoying fly. Does this behaviour display a certain level of hypocrisy? fluffy pets shouldnt be harmed but lesser living creatures are fair game. Where is the cut off point I wonder.

Is the Buddhist philosophy of 'all living creatures should not be harmed' the best one?

Now I'm not talking about pest control to erradicate a problem but more peoples general attitude to living things.

Maybe its down to emotional involvement, dogs and cats are pets, part of a family, capable of both giving and feeling emotion. I dont believe insects do - they just 'exist' with only very basic functions to feed, breed and survive.

[Mosaic]

I understand a bit of your drift Snafu. My thing for example is to do with angling - OH loves angling and watches it on TV as much as poss. I don't mind fish being caught for food but get upset at seeing them held out of water, gasping for breath, while the anglers congratulate each other and take pictures. Like you say - give the critters furry coats....imagine a scenario where two hunters hold a tiger cub's head under water while they discussed how clever they had been to catch it....makes you think.

[Frank97]

I think it's got a lot to do with the eyes myself, if a creature has got cute eyes and can be anthropomorphised then we want to protect it, if it's got multiple eyes, multiple legs and/or is slimey we don't care what happens to it.

[sunny-dave]

... and don't even start on the disconnect between loving animals and eating them ...

< and no I'm not a veggie, but I do have some fairly forthright views on carnivores who won't acknowledge/understand/witness the process by which meat arrives on their plates >

[Frank97]

That's made me feel quite ill Eddie.

[China Doll]

I'm not very good with bugs but I prefer that they are put outside rather than killed as it's not the bugs fault that I am irrationally afraid of them.

I do not believe animals are equal to humans at any point and whilst I would never be intentionally cruel or allow an animal to suffer unnecessarily, I will never understand the mentality that happens when an animal suffers in this country, especially of those that put animals on the same level as humans. It's something I have disagreed with people about several times. Case in point is the woman who put the cat in the bin, talk about a complete overreaction by the great british public.

I do not believe people should be cruel to or bring suffering on anything weaker than themselves but equally, even Eddie's story about the cats being eat (I love cats), just makes me think 'meh... they're meat too'.... I'm available for childrens parties.... ;0)

[flip_flop]

Garrygrover at 9.10am - I agree.

I've always struggled with this.

People seem to get more upset about violence against animals than they are about violence against people.

Of course neither is right, but violence against the person is worse.

I can remember a thread quite a number of years ago where a poster was arguing that cruelty against a cat should carry the same punishment as cruelty to a person. Madness.

People who profess to be 'animal lovers' will generally 'love' a fluffly and cute animal more than they would, say, a rat.

Would 'animal lovers' be quite so upset if it was a rat that was swung by its tail, or dragged along by a Porcshe as opposed to a cat and dog respectively?

I think its safe to assume the answer would be a resounding 'No'.

[Old_Geezer]

A sudden death is not the same as cruelty. and needs to be judged on it's own merits/demerits.

Cruelty would involve such things as unnecessary suffering. Yes I'm sure emotions can account for why one incident can cause more outrage than another though, but that is just human.

A philosophy of not harming any living creature is impossible to put into practice. I shall still put germ killer down my toilet, and wash my hands too. Which implies one has taken the wrong philosophical path and need to have a rethink.

[RATTER15]

Ive hunted rabbits and fox for much of my life , I was also a pest controller for 13 years. I don't have a problem with pest species being killed as sport or control but this must be done humanely, if you cannot dispatch your quarry quickly and efficiently then leave it alone.

These days I prefer to see things living and no longer hunt anything.

If I saw anybody being cruel to a mouse a rat or any other creature they would certainly see me getting a touch unpleasant!

[RATTER15]

OG, In my time as a pest controller I had a regular contract at a Buddhist retreat to kill rats and mice, it all had to be kept hush hush though, they wouldn't even let me wear my overalls in case clients caught on to what I was doing lol.

[notasyoungasiwas]

In answer to your question flipflop - yes, I would be upset if a rat was twirled around by its tail or tied to the bumper of a car. Cruelty is cruelty no matter what or who the victim and to me, it is just as bad to inflict unnecessary cruelty on an animal as it is a human.