Quote:
Originally Posted by MAStudent
My aunt had a laspo apso. A cute little dog.
It got really old, though, and had growths on it. Its time was near.
So my dad, believing in the "Of Mice and Men" and "Old Yeller" philosophy, accepted that he had to put it down for her.
So he took it outside and (we live in the country-ish) dug a grave for it, got it all ready. Then he wrapped his pistol in a towel so it wouldn't be too loud for the neighbors, aimed it at the head....and shot it in the ear. It moved its head.
Then it was moving around. He was trying to aim through the rag. Shot it in the face, but not a good one. Finally had to just get rid of the towel, but then the dog was moving all over, but looking at him for help, too.
He shot it like 9 times in the face before it died. Man! That sucked.
|
Good goddess! What a horrible death for the dog, MAStudent. And that must have been awful for all of you, too, since your dad had hoped to quickly and painlessly kill the dog so he or she didn't die slowly from tumors and possibly painful cancer.
How did your dad react? Did he wish then that he had taken the dog to the vet who could have quickly and painlessly ethanized her by lethal injection, or perhaps have recommended letting nature take its course? Death by old age is not always painful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NumberNineDream
Are crabs and lobster not allowed for vegetarians?
|
Hi #9! I doubt anyone who called herself a vegetarian would eat any animal, including crabs and lobsters.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ProggyMan
So...Ever swatted a mosquito?
|
ProggyMan, I brush mosquitoes away...gently.
I see your underlying question as a very important one: how do we go about deciding what value another being's life has to us? This question is important for how we treat not just non-human animals but also humans, and people can't even decide on an answer for that! For example, some people feel killing humans in war is acceptable, even innocent bystanders who are "collateral damage."
My decisions about when to kill any animal are affected by my perception of whether it is a threat to me and whether there is a way to get away without either of us being harmed. If a man were standing in front of me, planning to gun me down, and I as a police officer drew my gun, I hope I would try to maim the man rather than shoot to kill. This goes for an attacking human and an attacking tiger and an attacking mosquito.
My full answer about mosquitoes is that if I am outside, I brush them away and run away a little. If one is biting me, the damage/possible infection with West Nile Virus is already done, and I brush the plump, blood-engorged mosquito away. Sometimes, if a mosquito is hovering near me at bedtime indoors, I do try to kill it because I fear that it will bite me in my sleep, though I transport live flies and spiders outside of my home to release them since they are no significant threat to me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neapolitan
no, but I ate chocolate cover ants before
|
Heh heh...as a child I used to go into a strange store with a friend at a mall and stare at a jar of chocolate covered ants because we were so perplexed and disturbed and disgusted.
Oddly, the thought of eating ants seemed weird but I turned right around during most of my childhood and ate cows or pigs without thinking much about them at all...until I started looking closely in the butcher's case or at someone's dead leg that I held in my hand. Culture is a strong force that puts blinders on people, I feel.