[quote]Stern wrote:
Ooh interesting debate.
For clarification Vicomte, and let’s just remove the cute doggy from the scenario for the moment and focus on the deer, are you suggesting that the following two hunters are fundamentally the same?
Hunter Bill who goes out with his son and waits/stalks patiently before getting a clean kill whereupon, with pride, they return home; gut, skin and share their bounty across the dinner table with the rest of the family.
Hunter Dave who goes out with his son and waits/stalks patiently before purposefully shooting a deer in the ass and then tracking it to the spot where it lies lamed. There they poke it with sharp sticks till it’s bleeding profusely and before it’s dead they hang it from a tree and watch as the life ebbs out of it’s twitching body. Proud, they return home empty handed and show pictures to their mates of their handiwork.
One of the above hunters is following a primal tradition that some would argue played a major role in the evolution of our species. The other is doing nothing of the sort.
It’s all about motive. The hunter who hunts for food, the sadist who goes out to cause suffering just for the sake of suffering and the merciful who puts down an animal who is surely suffering are all entirely different entities. I would say the differences here are hardly arbitrary.
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I already ran this thing out in the other animal thread, so I’ll keep this brief.
We’re talking about torturing versus killing an animal, not torturing/killing versus killing.
Now, while their may be differences in the motives of the humans in question, to the deer, motive is completely irrelevant. The deer is having a fucked day no matter what.
Ignoring the motives (which, again, have absolutely no relevance to the deer), I’m saying killing is worse than torture that does not result in death, as they are both unnecessary in this modern day and age. Difference being hunting is considered socially acceptable, whereas torture is not. Either way, still fucking sucks for the deer.
Does that make sense? I really don’t have the energy.
