Why Be Kind to Animals when Animals are not Kind to Animals?

Just a thought:

Animals kill each other all the time: cats play around with birds and grasshoppers, eventually killing them in the process. If they don't have any belief in impeding animal cruelty, why should humans? Why should I be kind to a dog if the dog does not believe in being kind to a cat? Dogs will go looking for cats and beat them up, maybe kill them.

 

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But they dont have the capcity to understand morality so it seems unfair to treat them badly or without compassion on that basis alone.
If they had our level of self-awareness and grasp of complex ethical awareness i think only then would it be more reasonble to withhold fair treatment.

 

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we have the ability to recognize useless actions. therefore, we have the responsibility to conserve our actions as much as possible so that we can extend our time (as a species) on this planet as far as we can.

 

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Heliocentric: So a wolf with morals would stop eating sheep...

Roy: There is nothing useless to kill animals for food, skin, etc.

 

exactly. animals kill for food as do we. but a cat also kills for fun without realising that there might be consequences.

humans kill for food, and when we do it is alright; an action is not usually morally wrong when it is the only action that will keep you alive. but what i was referring to is the unnecessary killing like game hunting that our conscience naturally adapts to prevent. and this is because we don't have an unlimited source of food; we must conserve; we must only kill when it is necessary for survival. other animals kill whenever their instincts cause them to, which is usually only when they are hungry.

what is interesting are the animals with more complex brains, who are the only animals that 'play' with their food. Animals such as cats, orca, and humans all have been known to kill their prey even when not hungry. Is this because of our constant instinctual desire to hunt, or is it because we are bored, or is it because we need to unleash unrestrained power on something to feel in control, or is it something else?

 

Animals have a natural and necessary instinct to kill for food. The reason why cats sometimes don't eat their prey is that their killer instinct also needs practice sessions. Dogs chase away strange animals that enter their domain, simply to protect their territory, sometimes they'll kill the stranger, but again that is instinct.

Humans are able to utilise intellect above pure instinct and that is why we are able to care for other species, even if we don't always practice it.

 

There are more people on this Earth who are not kind to animals than those who are.

So, being kind to animals is less normal than normal

So what are you asking of the minority again? Why do they behave abnormally?

Anthropomorphism.

We do not treat animals as animals, we treat them as humans.
(those of us that are 'abnormal' that is)

 

I think its pretty erroneous to suggest that those treating animals kindly are projecting human qualities onto them.

 

There is a pretty good reason to be kind to animals and it's the same reason that you're kind to people. It's because they have the capacity to suffer. That's really the only line that can be drawn that is not arbitrary. If something can suffer then you should take that into consideration, if it can't then there is nothing to take into consideration.

 

since when did humans became separate HOLY entity aside animals? Humans are animals.

 

Some dogs are just like that and there is no changing them.

Why be kind to animals? One of the best answers is because we can. Then we can share warmth, security, and love. I don't know why anyone thinks it is pleasant to do otherwise. I've known several animal abusers who thought that it was something like moral to abuse those animals or destroy them. They have their reasons, like the animal is "dirty" or is some kind of inconvenience to them. There is the wanton abuser of animals and there is also the kind that thinks that it is a service to the community and who used to get away with it pretty easily.

I think that looking at the rewards of caring for animals is going to get us a there a lot faster than assigning penalities is. Part of the reason for assigning penalties is to keep the power to also punish people for doing good things for animals. You can't punish someone for helping to preserve a species unless this is somehow a crime with a punishment. A lot of laws have a similarly crooked origin.

 

*applauds* completely agree, its the only rational position to take since compassion is relative to ones ability to suffer and nothing else. Compassion doesnt work on the basis of intellect or percieved 'usefullness' as it relates to you; as some people seem to believe.

 

Heliocentric, I think that a better reason to be kind to animals is because they have the capacity to feel love and pleasure.

 

thats a really good point, i would have to agree with you there

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It's a fact.

 

Yeah, I am sure the caveman agreed with that...

Stop moralizing PC people....

 

Thank you. Also, animals DO have human qualities. I've been around a lot of them. I don't know who started the idea that it is wrong to "anthropomorphize" animals, but there are very few qualities that are uniquely human. Kindness, the ability to be gentle, sociability, the desire to love someone, these qualities are present in animals. The animals often have more of these than humans do.

 

thank you for this excellent example of anthropomorphism

 

http://www.leedscarroll.com/Misc/CatLove.html

 

I am a proud anthropomorphist....abnormal in the extreme

unlike Metakron who is in denial