Do ANIMALS have RIGHTS?

Petrel
Is it ok for me to kill prairie dogs and leave them lay.

 

Are you killing them for kicks or because they're overpopulating and making things hazardous for your horses or cattle? I think "varmint hunting" is different than hunting for sport because animals like coyotes and foxes are not really edible. . . However, I did look up some prairie dog recipes--yummy! You should try some out and let us know.

Of course in varmint hunting it's still important to follow the general rules for hunting--choose an appropriate gun and ammunition for the animal you are hunting and don't take risky shots that are likely to leave the animal wounded and irretrievable.

 

The prairie dog pie looks the best to me .

I'll shot the prairie dog ,you make the pie we'll have Mikey eat first.

Anyway your post onrights was good.

 

This is a good discussion on rights. How exactly do these "inherent rights" come into existence and who defines or determines them if not our governing authorities? Does the bible talk about "inherent rights"? If so what are they?

 

"Endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights" is how they say it. The Bible does not name specific rights, but by reading about how God tells us how to treat each other we can come up with some. For instance, God says that murder is wrong and that a person can't be put to death without sufficient evidence. From this we can say that we have a right to life that cannot be infringed without due process.

 

Of course animals have God-given rights.

"Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn."

 

They also have the right to a spicey marinade and slow smoking over low heat.

 

God made animals and I believe he loves them. They are his creatures, after all.

I think this is an exquisite expression of God's love and care for his creatures.

 

Yes, but I think God would draw the line at cattle being dismembered while still conscious, as frequently happens in slaughterhouses.

 

I've been to a slaughterhouse and have seen the opposite. In fact, all the information I have seen or witnessed is that the animal is put down first and then the dismemberment takes place. But either way, I see nothing in scripture that indicates that God would draw any line over this issue.

 

Not only is that not true, does drawing the line there make it immoral for me to prepare lobster the way I do? I place it in the boiling water while it's still alive.

 

NiteShift ,

I worked for IBP a beef packing plant for about a year and I never seen anything like that happen.

 

Not only is that not true, does drawing the line there make it immoral for me to prepare lobster the way I do? I place it in the boiling water while it's still alive. </font>[/QUOTE]I don't know if that is immoral or not, but I could never do that!

Kosher laws, as I understand it, have a standard for killing the animal humanely and instantly so there is no suffering. That seems to be what God would want, imo.

 

Why does it seem so odd that God would think wanton cruelty to animals is wrong? If it's not wrong to dismember a mammal while it's still living, then why should we get any comfort out of God calling us his sheep and himself our shepherd? Such a shepherd would have interest in his sheep only so far as they were useful, and beyond that their wellbeing would be of no concern. That sounds more like Allah to me!

Others in this thread so far have posted verses showing that God is interested in humane treatment of animals.

I myself would say that the immorality of cruelty to animals should be self-evident.

 

That's good SampleWow, that's how it's supposed to be done. The problem in some meatpacking plants is that the line moves too fast and sometimes animals have not been properly stunned. I have seen this myself, though it was years ago.

 

Well, let's just say I don't make much lobster at home these days. But I'll happily go to a fine restaurant and pay someone to do it instead of me

BTW, I'm sure there are a few folks on the BB who have prepared crawfish while they were still alive.

 

Animals have the right to be treated humanely, and provide our essential needs for survival. As far as any type of dismemberment or torture while they are still alive, is that wrong?

Yeah. And it's pretty sick.

 

What about other living creatures besides animals: The Protists and Moneras, for example?

 

I'd say there's just a weensie qualitative difference between the sensibility of a gorilla and a paramecium, wouldn't you say?

I think that animals that come closer to conscious thought have a greater capacity to experience pain. Lobsters are fairly low on the list when it comes to mental complexity. I would absolutely never boil a cow alive, but I am less bothered by boiling lobsters alive, especially as there is no convenient humane way to kill them. I would be pleased if someone came up with a good way to anesthetize them, of course.

Of course, because I still don't like cooking things alive, I don't eat lobster or crab. I will consider eating scallops, though.

 

While I'm a lobster lover, I share the sentiment that I don't enjoy cooking things alive. I was divorced once, and know what that's like.