Does Starbury have a point?

[monosylab1k]

PETA was so busy burning Vick jerseys that they forgot to save the actual dogs.

[Flopper]

The only reason I don't condone hunting as much as I do to dogfighting is that of the process that goes with each activity. Can you honestly say that torturing a dog and putting it through the process that leads to dogfighting the same as that of hunting a deer? Do the hunters now torture the deer before shooting it? If they do, then the government should make hunting illegal and just hire professionals to control the population like they do with other animals.

I don't hunt and I don't like hunting, but to compare the process of hunting to that of dogfighting is ignorant and stupid.

[mavs>spurs2]

PETA was so busy burning Vick jerseys that they forgot to save the actual dogs.

That is true. Those PETA people have their hearts in the right place but not their heads. But on the other hand I guess there's not much they could do in reality, no one will take a fighting dog as a pet. It would be too hard to find a home for all of them. Too much of a liability, probably best that they are put down.

[rasho8]

That is true. Those PETA people have their hearts in the right place but not their heads. But on the other hand I guess there's not much they could do in reality, no one will take a fighting dog as a pet. It would be too hard to find a home for all of them. Too much of a liability, probably best that they are put down.

PETA euthanizes thousands of animals a year. They are more anti-human involvement toward animals than are really pro-animal

[jay014]

Maybe he'll get a movie deal to star in The Longest Yard 3 when all this is over with.

[jacobdrj]

I agree with the declawing - it's cruel.

I'm not an expert on dog or cat speciation - but I know that dogs are considered a single species. And I don't think that the different breeds are even considered subspecies.

In modern times cats are not only bred for appearance but, more importantly, for temperament. And out-crossing between the 2 parental types is often done (eg. a Tonkinese is a cross between a siamese and a bumese)- so the incidence of genetic defect is lessened. Personally I am conflicted when it comes to breeding for type - is it better to do this type of breeding or should we just let the animals run wild and self-select? And with random selection, is it even necessary or ethical to neuter?

From your comments I would wager a guess that you would never have, for example, a Golden Retriever. Do you have any pets?

That was kind of my point, dog is dog. There are no subspecies as far as this conversation is concerned.

You are correct. I don't own a pet.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Well, does he?

[jacobdrj]

What Starburry means is that if it were not culturally unacceptable to eat dogs, than we wouldn't have a problem with it. I do understand where Marburry is coming from, and I think he has a valid, if not misdirected, line of reasoning.

Most of us in America condemn matadors as well, and the bulls they killed and eaten, but is tortured before death, and is therefore frowned upon.

Hunting is a means of acquiring food. Torture to the animal is expressly forbidden. There is a sporting aspect here. From a sporting aspect, the animal must be given some semblence of a fair chance (hence, no fully automatic machine guns). I don't nessacarily agree with this, but the skills learned and exercised from hunting are valeuble ones.

There are those who go out to hunt for the sake of shooting/killing something. I would actually agree with Starburry, that this behavior is no different than dogfighting, or my example, matadoring. But it is hard to tell intentions of people and seporate those from the legit hunters.

There is a final aspect of hunting. In the US, we have effectively eleminated most, if not all predators to large prey animals. As such, we are now the top predator. Without a predator, these animals will (and do) explode in population to the point they will starve themselves, or worse, cause mass dissease to spread. Deer are overpopulated, and need controll. It is better that these animals are killed, and at least have a chance of their deaths not being a waste if you hunt them, where the alternitives are mass extinction through disease, hunger, or just plane waste of materials, which also can breed dissease.

[E20]

He obviously doesn't know about the underground deerfighting circuit.

That made me