Pets and zoos are immoral, right?
Vegetarians are fond of equating animals with people and saying that it's wrong to cause animals distress and /or shorten their lives unnaturally. However, it seems to me that if you follow line of reasoning, keeping pets and creating zoos is also very wrong. The one is a form of slavery, then, and the other a form of kidnapping.
I believe that if you are a vegetarian and don't agree that it's wrong to keep pets or create zoos, you're being hypocritical.
You can say that most pets are happy to be pets and have even been bred for that purpose, but vegetarians often argue that "Well, but we are more evolved creatures and have an obligation to lesser creatures whether they ask for our help or not."
Okay vegetarians, it's your turn to reply, Do you agree that keeping pets and establishing zoos is also immoral if eating animal matter is immoral, or do you have any arguments to escape from this conclusion. I would hope none of you have dogs, cats, or parrots (especially parrots, since they are far smarter than dogs and cats).
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Judith van der Roos on -
Well my "social parasite" is indispensable. She tells me when the baby is crying, when the children cry out in distress, alerts me when there is an alarm. Out in the street she guards my blind side, tells me when someone is trying to get my attention, helps me shepherd the children and actively ensures my safety. If you want an example of an animal being in charge of a human then we are it, I trust her senses more than I trust my own and ignore her only at my peril - literally. She is a parasite i happily accept, and my oldest daughter considers her assistance parasite to be far more valuable than, for example, her siblings ! http://willothewisp.nl/about/sissi-jos/
Regards,
Judith vd R.
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Permalink Reply by Unseen on -
Parasites have various strategies to prolong their parasitism, hopefully until either they or their host dies. While most parasites just keep their (figurative in many cases) head down, others take the strategy of ingratiating themselves.
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on -
Actually, I had a dog, but I ate it.
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Permalink Reply by Dustin on -
What if we breed humans to be male slaves but only make them work 4 hours of hard labor a day and the rest of the day off they get to mingle with beautiful women and eat the finest foods and do anything else they wanted - Within reason, of course. You know, like they still get lots of vacation time, free medical care, they can invest their own money, their housing is quite nice and free, food is free, etc. The only catch is that if they ever try to quit being a slave, they are immediately captured and either imprisoned for a fair time or if more than one offense, killed. I dunno but I think some people would say this could be a benign form of slavery. This seems to be in essence what a zoo is. Except the animals don't do any 'hard labor' of any sort and get fed and treated pretty well - but also don't get punished if they ever do escape.
As for pets, I get annoyed to no end when I hear crazy cat people saying that housing cats indoors is immoral and hurts the cats or clipping their nails is animal abuse and stuff. So my cat who naps 20 hours a day and get's free milk and belly rubs and has it's shit cleaned up after it is having such a poor life? Puhhhhlease.
let's focus our attention on actual humans that are suffering in 3rd world countries and not worry so much about the rights of a house cat or a zoo elephant.
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on
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Someone once said that if aliens from another planet could, unobserved, watch us feed, bathe, walk and clean up poop after our dogs, they would logically concur that dogs were the dominant intelligence on this planet, and that, in fact, we humans were their pets.
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Permalink Reply by Thomas Marshall on -
I would like to interject this:
"What if we breed humans to be male slaves but only make them work 4 hours of hard labor a day and the rest of the day off they get to mingle with beautiful women and eat the finest foods and do anything else they wanted - Within reason, of course. You know, like they still get lots of vacation time, free medical care, they can invest their own money, their housing is quite nice and free, food is free, etc. The only catch is that if they ever try to quit being a slave, they are immediately captured and either imprisoned for a fair time or if more than one offense, killed. I dunno but I think some people would say this could be a benign form of slavery. This seems to be in essence what a zoo is..." This zoo that you have so casually pointed out, is eerily similar to a society that is not too far from home. This raises a couple of questions (at least for me): "Who's stopping by to view the exhibit?" and also: "How the hell do i avoid being in the petting zoo?"
just a thought...
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Permalink Reply by kOrsan on -
humans to be male slaves but only make them work 4 hours of hard labor a day and the rest of the day off they get to mingle with beautiful women and eat the finest foods and do anything else they wanted - Within reason, of course. You know, like they still get lots of vacation time, free medical care, they can invest their own money, their housing is quite nice and free, food is free, etc.
Where can I sign up?
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Permalink Reply by matt.clerke on -
What if we breed humans to be male slaves but only make them work 4 hours of hard labor a day and the rest of the day off they get to mingle with beautiful women and eat the finest foods and do anything else they wanted
Where do I sign up?
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Permalink Reply by Grady Jean on -
I love my dogs. They've been there for me when people haven't. It's silly, I know, but there's a bond between a person and their dog that goes deeper than simply Master and Underling. Vegans, Vegetarians, whoever, fuck'em. I'm keeping my dogs, I'm keeping my meat, and y'all can go fuck yourselves.
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Permalink Reply by Hope on -
Vegetarians are fond of equating animals with people and saying that it's wrong to cause animals distress and /or shorten their lives unnaturally. However, it seems to me that if you follow line of reasoning, keeping pets and creating zoos is also very wrong. The one is a form of slavery, then, and the other a form of kidnapping.
Not all vegetarians think like that... Not at all.. Most of them turn vegetarians or vegan for healthy reasons,
Umm, although I don't agree with vegans at all...I'll explain why!..
Okay, if you are a vegan don't be upset with what I'm saying: It is sad to see vegans don't drink milk or eat cheese and eggs.. I think that that they are torturing themselves..//of coures, unless they don't have allergies for milk, cheese or eggs// I mean why cant they just be (vegetarians= lacto-vegetarians).. It would be so awesome and healthy.
it's your turn to reply, Do you agree that keeping pets and establishing zoos is also immoral if eating animal matter is immoral, or do you have any arguments to escape from this conclusion. I would hope none of you have dogs, cats, or parrots (especially parrots, since they are far smarter than dogs and cats).
I think that animals, especially birds shouldnt be in a zoo at all...the best place would be "a nature reserve"
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on
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Has anyone even considered where our civilization would be, if we hadn't made "pets" of horses?
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