Accidental animal crueltyI once invented a brilliant game - I'd sit at the top of the stairs and throw cat biscuits to the bottom. My cat would eat them, then I'd shake the box, and he would run up the stairs for more biscuits. Then - of course - I'd throw a biscuit back down to the bottom. I kept this going for about half an hour, amused at my little game, and all was fine until the cat vomited. I felt absolutely dreadful.
Have you accidentally been cruel to an animal?
This question has been revived from way, way, way back on the b3ta messageboard when it was all fields round here.
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rob, Thu 6 Dec 2007, 11:13)
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value judgementscould be another way of asking "What might be the consequences of my act -will I get caught?" rather than an internal balance between social and personal morality. Also, I'd argue that the kind of things I'm talking about are considered bad in all societies - they're not a matter of debate.
Eating meat - a matter of debate. Throwing rocks at a donkey for fun until it dies - wrong. Execution of a criminal - debatable. Execution of a man so you can be first in the bus queue - wrong. I suppose it also boils down to what you actually do yourself. I wouldn't want an immigrant to clean my toilet, but I'd let a Romanian orphan make my shoes (because I didn't personally make them do it, you see).
To reiterate, in case we've lost the plot: cruelty to animals is symptomatic of out innate cruelty, however much we control it or dress it up in ethics and philosophy.
(, Tue 11 Dec 2007, 16:17, Reply)
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