The Killing of Animals in its many aspects

[Lady Sidhe]

To Elspode:

IMO, yes. There's no point in killing an animal if you're not going to use it in its entirety. Humans have the unfortunate habit of hunting a species until it is extinct, for fur, or a head, or some other stupid reason, and they don't realize that each creature has its place, and that the destruction of a species can have a domino effect. ( For instance, according to the biologist who wrote a book called "Dust," the extinction of a certain species of ant would completely upset, and possibly stop, the growth of food plants (wheat, grain, etc.) in the world. The ant performs a function, and there are creatures who feed only on this ant, who in turn serve a function, and so on.) Just because we're human doesn't mean we know it all, and it doesn't mean we always make the right decisions.


To Brig:

Yes, I know about the lions and wolves. Both kill for particular reasons specific to their kind, though, not out of malice. Wolves will fight the leader for dominance and the right to mate, which strengthens the pack. Survival of the fittest. Lions who take over another lion's pride kill the cubs so that they will have unrivaled supremacy, and so that their own genes will predominate. That's how it works in the animal world. The strongest survive to pass on their genes, ensuring the optimum chance of survival of the species.

However, in the human world, physical strength isn't necessarily the most desirable trait. It doesn't contribute overmuch to our survival, as it does with lower animals. And murderers, rapists, and child molesters are not the ones we want passing on their genes. We survive because we've created a society with rules. If people are allowed to break those rules with impunity, society is in danger of anarchy, which is not good for our species.

Animals don't go around killing their own kind indiscriminately, for no reason, and when they do kill their own kind, which isn't common, they do so because of an evolutionary instinct or imperative that impels them to improve the species (except, perhaps, in the case of chimps). Humans aren't slaves of instinct, and therefore should be held accountable for the destructive actions they commit, and indeed, to a higher standard of behavior, because of their superior intelligence and reasoning ability.

Besides, animal society is not our society. We can't apply our rules of conduct to them, any more than their rules of conduct can be applied to us.

Sidhe