Is it ever right to kill animals? [ENDS 12/12/12]

[Kardan]

but tbh you could eat any animal? :s

If someone wants to breed dogs purely for dog meat, then so be it. I'm saying that we shouldn't go round eating dogs in animal homes for example.

[Munex]

The short answer:

Yes, of course it's right to kill animals under certain circumstances. It's natural to kill for food or to protect yourself and your livelihood. If a vicious bear attacked me, I would kill it; if I was a hungry omnivore - as humans are - I would eat the meat of that bear. Sometimes killing is needed to restore natural balance, such as the case of seal clubbing, which seems horrible but is necessary to avoid a collapse in the ecosystem and ultimately the extinction of the seals themselves.

What about killing for fun?

Hunting for fun is a barbaric and outdated practice - we can shoot people on COD if we desire.

Why can't I kill a dog?

Go to China and you will be more than welcome to do so. In Western culture, it is frowned upon because many people keep dogs as pets and have shared affection with their canine friends. It would be taboo to kill a dog as it may upset a lot of people, just like any other taboo topic.

Why can I eat a pig but not a dog?

Again, it's to do with Western culture. We don't mass produce dogs for consumption. If you wanted to kill a dog just for fun, without any other purpose, seek medical analysis.

Killing spiders and other insects:

Killing in fear is completely understandable and forgiveable. Even if you know a spider won't hurt you, if it creeps you out and has invaded your space, the quickest way to solve the problem is by killing it. Throughout history, killing in fear has happened frequently, it's a natural reaction. Sometimes it turns out to be unjust and upsetting, but "better safe than sorry" would apply here. There have been cases where two tribes of people meet, one accepts the other tribe with open arms, but the other tribe is hostile and slaughters the 'nice' guys. Of course, this tribe scenario can be applied to humans and animals, and even though you know a spider won't kill you, it still scares you (if it were to crawl on you) and you know it has no impact on the environment if it were to die.

Killing endangered or large animals:

Obviously, we want to maintain the natural order. Killing endangered animals is wrong unless to protect yourself or in extreme food cases - if you were starving and couldn't find any other food, an elephant would make a lovely meal. Large animals such as whales can feed a coastal family of starving children for weeks, I agree with the killing of whales in that case. When killing large animals for personal taste, ("ew, I don't like chicken I only like whale meat"), I think it's unnecessary and altruistic. Large animals like whales are believed to be sentient and intelligent, it wouldn't be just to kill one just for personal taste.

Killing for ivory and other saleable materials:

This is the most tricky to answer. I think if a man is desperate and has no food, money and can barely survive, he can be forgiven for killing even the most endangered animals. Respect to any poor man that respects nature enough to continue struggling through life instead of killing an endangered animal.

To summarise:

Without a doubt, it is right to kill animals under circumstances.

Killing for fun is not right; it is not necessary or appropriate, regardless of the culture you come from.

[KymKo]

Well it depends what animal, pigs, cow and lambs u can eat!. However Dogs and cats arnt really eatable animals. So it really depends what u count as a animal or a pet.

[Grig]

Well it depends what animal, pigs, cow and lambs u can eat!. However Dogs and cats arnt really eatable animals. So it really depends what u count as a animal or a pet.

Although you could argue that in is in relation with your culture. For example in Hindi culture, beef is a sacred animal and not generally eaten; whilst in China it is perfectly 'normal' to eat dog etc.

[Zelda]

Personally, being a veggie myself, I see it as because we are able to survive without eating meat and killing stuff for food, I would say I only ever see it just to kill when nothing is available to eat. As grig said what is honestly the difference between say killing a pig and a dog, both is completely unnecessary in most cases. It is quite obvious most people eat meat for the taste, which shows a rather barbaric nature tbh, we would hardly see it in a different light if another species started hunting us down and eating us because "we taste good". Also money is no good reason as vegetarianism is cheaper tbh.

[Andii]

Tbh I can see why it's wrong to most people to eat a dog but I've actually tried it in a curry and it tastes sooo good, if I could I probably would buy it and make my own curry.

the way I see it is an animal is just that an animal, all animals are food apart from the poisonous ones lol.

the only thing I disagree with is having to torture and animal, if you can't kill it fast then don't kill it at all, animals do have feelings but not souls, it's still cruel to let something go through pain, that's why most people that run over an animal go back ad check it if it's not dead most people will put it out of it's misery,

people need to realise there's more to life than looking after animals such as other people, people would treat animals more better than they treat others which is a disgrace, after reading about dog meat people do eat it in not just china or Korea but in Rome and Switzerland aswell. Found this quite interesting,

[Explorator]

Personally, i think it's what society thinks is right. Over time some people have accepted certain animals into society and others have not. For example like a previous comment, a dog, or a pig. Over a period of time dogs and humans have become closer, unlike maybe pigs and humans and in today's eyes it's wrong to kill something that is so close to us. Yet because pigs aren't as close to humans as our fellow dogs people think it's a little more acceptable to kill them. Also, in my eyes it is right to kill some animals for food. Most animals for food have been specially bred to do their job. Like chickens bred to lay eggs. All they know is how to lay eggs, and after they've stopped laying eggs they get killed. If they knew what the outside world is or maybe something different to a factory is they would develop emotions ect. Most animals are bred for breeding, and it's their fate until we come up with some super idea to cure world hunger or something.

[FlyingJesus]

Well my view is I really don't care, soz if that makes me a bad person but I really don't... It doesn't make a difference to my everyday life what animals are killed/abused, as sad as it does sound that's the reality of it.

Thousands of innocent civilians getting bombed by American drone attacks doesn't make a difference to your everyday life, but I'm pretty sure you'd agree that that isn't right I don't have an issue with killing animals tbh if it's for food or some other human necessity (preservation of life etc) but "it doesn't affect me" is a really weak argument lol

Well it depends what animal, pigs, cow and lambs u can eat!. However Dogs and cats arnt really eatable animals. So it really depends what u count as a animal or a pet.

Dogs and cats are most definitely edible, although the muscle and fat contents of cats aren't really right for what we'd perceive as particularly tasty

[Catchy]

Thousands of innocent civilians getting bombed by American drone attacks doesn't make a difference to your everyday life, but I'm pretty sure you'd agree that that isn't right I don't have an issue with killing animals tbh if it's for food or some other human necessity (preservation of life etc) but "it doesn't affect me" is a really weak argument lol



Dogs and cats are most definitely edible, although the muscle and fat contents of cats aren't really right for what we'd perceive as particularly tasty

u always make stupid comparisons lol

Edited by Jordan (Forum Super Moderator): Please stick to the Debate Rules

[FlyingJesus]

How is that a stupid comparison? You said that it wasn't an issue because it doesn't affect you, I was just showing how that's a ridiculous argument