Pet Pain – Talking Politics – Yahoo! News UK

23 Jan

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Talking Politics – Yahoo! News UK

This week MEPs in the European parliament voted to allow the continued slaughter of animals under Muslim and Jewish practises – called halal and shechita respectively.

There is an animal welfare argument in all this. Religious commentators say the more traditional techniques used by their respective faith are actually more humane than the mass-production methods used across Britain. Animal rights activists cite the lack of a stun gun in the process, which instantly makes the animal unconscious before slaughter.

Both these stances leave me distinctly unmoved. I remain entirely indifferent to the suffering of animals as a political issue. That’s not to advocate cruelty. I would, of course, like all animals to be killed as humanely as scientifically possible. They should never undergo any further suffering than that necessary to support human needs. But when it comes to weighing animal rights and human needs, there’s no contest.

There is a certain cruelty in many animal rights activists – and their sympathisers – who value animal life to the point where they, consciously or subconsciously, rate it over humans. In a world with so much human suffering – where people starve to death in what’s still, laughably, called the ‘developing’ world, where children die because the only hospitals they have do not have the materials necessary to treat them – I find it staggering that anyone could dedicate their efforts to animals.

They do so out of sentimentality. Animals don’t hurt our feelings. They do not kill their own species, apart from on the rare occasions when two males clash in a manner which results in the death of the competitor. In other words, when they do kill each other, it is not the death which motivates them, but mating. They certainly don’t commit genocide or inflict war.

But this is not because they are somehow better than us. It’s because animals behave only according to their instinct. They do not have the capacity for abstract thought. They have no concept of ideas, or philosophy. From a human point of view, which is the only point of view we can possibly have, they are less important than humans. That seems a childish and imbecilic statement, but it is, unfortunately, one that needs saying. Many animal rights activists and ordinary members of the public seem to have forgotten it.

In the west, we have sentimentalised animals. The same is not true in the rest of the world, of course, where life still carries with it the necessity of survival. There, the concept of having a pet is ludicrous. Animals are there to help humans survive, either through food, or labour, or material.

In the west, free from such concerns, we have idealised and infantilised animals. We obsess over our cat’s cuteness and forget the manner in which we once saw it toy with a mouse before it killed it. It was not being cruel, any more than it is capable of being amiable. Cruelty has no meaning for animals. They act merely according to their nature.

The debate over animal testing shows us how far many people have fallen in their priorities. Many are now willing to countenance mass human suffering for the sake of animals. Try to imagine the amount of suffering Alzheimer’s causes humanity: the loss of someone dear to you in a manner which destroys their spirit, humiliates them, and rids you both of the relationship you shared for years. I would merrily see thousands of animals killed for even a remote chance of ridding humanity of this disease.

These moral issues, as complex and emotional as they are, reduce themselves to a simple choice: does the animal’s free will overrule a human’s free will?

The answer is no; absolutely not. Humans are autonomous beings, capable of extraordinary kindness and great cruelty. We explore space and cure diseases, and, yes, we rape and exploit the weak. We create and appreciate art, and we betray those closest to us for the most trivial of sensual pleasures. We are complex and disappointing and unpredictable and sometimes wonderful. Animals have no concept of art, or betrayal, or selflessness. They act according to their nature. Nothing more.

So the arguments about which method of slaughter is more humane are entirely irrelevant to me. Muslims and Jews are entitled to slaughter animals for food in any way they choose. Not because of their religion, but because of their status as human beings.

By Ian Dunt

Firstly, I'm not quite sure what the “point” of the article is. From what I can gather, it's that animals should have less rights than they are currently given (which I disagree with) and that a humans right should take precedence over the right of an animal (which I partly agree with).

In the case of the latter, I would say that if it came to a situation where both lives was at stake, then I agree that the right of the human should be more important than the life of an animal.

Animal testing or the deliberate neglect or cruelty to an animal is unacceptable and for one reason. We, as human beings, have –choice-. If we have the ability to prevent something, then it is our duty as humans to do what we can. Survival of the fittest does not apply to us any more. We are where we are because of our ability to think, act, and most importantly, choose.

what a doctor says: http://www.vernoncoleman.com/ ” I have for many years stated firmly that no experiments performed on animals have ever been of value to doctors or patients.” “The Ten Biggest Lies Vivisectors “Tell .” Each year in the UK five million electrically stunned sheep regain consciousness before they die from loss of blood. Researchers at Bristol University have found that after electric stunning, sheep are still able to feel pain and may still be fully aware of their surroundings. Sheep are unable to cry out because the massive electric current used to stun them paralyses them.

Nearly a quarter of a million cattle are shot at least twice or knifed to death while still conscious. Every year nearly two million pigs which have been electrically stunned regain consciousness before they die.

Around a quarter of a million pigs are incorrectly stunned and don't lose consciousness at all.

At least sixty million chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks regain consciousness and then die slowly from loss of blood. Nearly ten million birds are put into the scalding tank while still conscious.

Tens of millions of animals are fully conscious as they hang upside down, in shackles, bleeding to death.

British newspapers often carry stories of animal cruelty abroad. Few ever dare mention what goes on in British abattoirs. Britain doesn't need a Minister for Women. It needs a Minister for Animals. Oh, how it needs a Minister for Animals.)

Globally, the animal killing industry is now the biggest industry in the world – a multi-trillion dollar industry with 43,000,000,000 animals killed every year.

It is hardly surprising that people who kill for a living tend to become increasingly aggressive and, in the end, uncontrollably violent.

Depression and violence are much commoner among abattoir workers, vivisectors, butchers and others for whom cruelty is a way of life. ”

Practical, logical arguement with sheer truth stamped all over it. Its good to know that newswriters actual opinions are still being published in this “free country”. Of course humans are more important than animals – with great power however, brings great responsiblity too. Ian-Incidentally, you failed to mention our r… to ourselves as sharers of this planet to ensure the wellbeing of all its inhabitants, especially the longevity of co-habitaion amongst animals, as the supposed “higher species”. Lest we forget, we are not top of the food chain. Significant issues are all around us because of our apparent instinct to survive at all cost. What religion has to do with all this is another, entirely different debate.

animals and humans should have equal rights simple as!!!

Secondly, just a question. Food for thought. Would you include various remote tribes around the world in the animal bracket? Tribes of “people” who speak their own language, act on instinct, do what is only in their nature to do and very little more?

And Third, remember than if there is a national disaster (flood, famine, nuclear war) it will most likely be animals who out live us. At the moment with current climate, animals are our best meter on how long we have before our planet is usless for life (which again… was caused by us). If anything, Animals should have MORE rights because they are not as retarded as the human race.

At last someone who says it like it is. The misguided few who, as Mr Dunt points out,put the welfare of animals before humans have a lot to answer for. Mink in the wild, released by animal activists, have already wreaked havoc on our natural species such as the otter. The anti angling lobby, fail to realise that, if it were not for angling there would be no fish in our waterways anyway. The farm animals that provide humans with food and materials only exist because of their usefulness and man's farming efforts. Keep it up Ian well said.

gandhi was probably refering to us considering we as humans are animals and the way we treat each other is pathetic then our moral progress is in deep decline anyway i do believe we should have priority of other animals but not to the extent that we just slaughter them needlessly eg fur industry or slaughter them just for the fun of it or hunt them we use them as effectivly and humanly as possible and that should be the end of it

quotewhat a doctor says: http://www.vernoncoleman.com/ ” I have for many years stated firmly that no experiments performed on animals have ever been of value to doctors or patients.” “The Ten Biggest Lies Vivisectors “Tell .” Each year in the UK five million electrically stunned sheep regain consciousness before they die from loss of blood. Researchers at Bristol University have found that after electric stunning, sheep are still able to feel pain and may still be fully aware of their surroundings. Sheep are unable to cry out because the massive electric current used to stun them paralyses them.

Around a quarter of a million pigs are incorrectly stunned and don't lose consciousness at all.

At least sixty million chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks regain consciousness and then die slowly from loss of blood. Nearly ten million birds are put into the scalding tank while still conscious.

Tens of millions of animals are fully conscious as they hang upside down, in shackles, bleeding to death.

Globally, the animal killing industry is now the biggest industry in the world – a multi-trillion dollar industry with 43,000,000,000 animals killed every year.

It is hardly surprising that people who kill for a living tend to become increasingly aggressive and, in the end, uncontrollably violent.

Depression and violence are much commoner among abattoir workers, vivisectors, butchers and others for whom cruelty is a way of life. ”

im not saying this is false but what actual evidence is there to back up these claims

I'm vegetarian, but I do hate animal rights protesters. I'm like “get a job!”

I guess they exist as animals are herded, abused and slaughtered and that doesn't happen to people any more. But there are charities and aid for third world countries so what is the point of your article? (seriously -'cause I gave up reading halfway through. I can't be bothered with your articles any more because they're bias.)

I try to be quite indifferent to suffering human or otherwise if it has nothing to do with me. Yes things upset me, but it would be a waste of time to obsess over that I cannot change. If I ever am in the position that I could help, then I'll give it a thought.

It is a known fact that HUMANS have over populated the world, our own breeding is out of control. We do not need to eat the bodys of dead aminals in order to live. We do however need to control our own population, stop thinking of our own needs and think of the bigger picture … We have taken it upon ourselves to be the keepers of the world so lets start to look after it properly and respect every living thing on it.

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