> I feel like stirring up some controversy, this is a topic I feel semi-strongly about, and I've got some free time on my hands, so I've decided to post about animal rights. Basically, my feeling about it is that animals have no rights and the very idea is silly to me. If it benefits mankind in some way, I see no problem with harming some animals.
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> Take hunting for example. I don't hunt and never will for two reasons: one, I don't like guns very much and wouldn't feel very safe holding one in my hand; and two, deer or birds or things that one might hunt are animals that I enjoy observing, and I would feel sad knowing I killed one. But I don't think hunting is wrong or unethical. I enjoy going fishing, because fish taste good and I don't feel bad about killing them. The only way I would object to hunting is if it were an endangered species, because that actually affects the entire ecosystem, which of course includes people.
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> Also, another thing that bugs me is that I've heard from time to time something like this: "If you were to kill off all the gnats in the world, the entire ecosystem would collapse; but if you were to kill off all the people, things would only get better." First off, the entire ecosystem wouldn't collapse, but yes, it would get worse, and people do in general pollute the environment and make it worse, so I get the general point. But to me, making this point as one defending environmentalism seems to be missing the point. I do my part to keep the environment clean, but for the reason that a poor environment harms mankind. To me, environmentalism purely for the environment's sake seems silly.
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> Oh my, I've been rambling up a storm. Well, I think I've covered my views on this pretty ok. Comments?
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> Char "this is my first opinionated post, oh boy" on

I believe that animals don't have rights. I think it is a mistake to put humans and animals on the same level ("How would you like it if someone shot you and ate your meat on a burger?").

However, I don't believe in being cruel to an animal just for cruelty's sake. Kicking a dog, for example, is bad.

I don't know why it's OK to do things to certain animals but not to other animals. I dont' know why it's "bad" to eat dog. I don't know why we protect endangered animals - so what if they go extinct? What will honestly happen if we run out of Wild Germanian Tree Tigers or some such?

I also don't understand why some people are so shocked by the concept of veal. So the cow is a year or two younger. Why is eating it so bad?


A side note: many people don't eat meat because of the so-called factory farms they grow the animals on. Almost no meat in the country comes from places with awful conditions for animals, because the FDA does not approve places like that, and so they can't sell their meat, and you don't end up buying it.

-eric "Has NO PROBLEM with eating dog or veal" sleator
Fri 11 Aug A.D. 2000