I cannot believe this rubbish, in the UK Times Online newspaper today!!!
This follows the story of the guy for was found to have killed something like 10,000 greyhounds with a bolt-gun once they had been 'finished with' at the racetracks... (that story was posted on Chaz)
What the f--- ? Am I supposed to feel guilty for feeding a Spanish greyhound (why not any dog?) instead of sending the protein off to starving humans elsewhere? When I was younger I spent time in Africa training local people in new skills - is that good undone because I now have and feed an animal!?!?!??! I've just come back from another poor country, no one was mad at me because I keep a pet dog (in fact it casued some genuine interest).
Utter garbage. If I had wasted any cash on a physical copy of this paper I'd keep it in the bathroom for appropriate use.
Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2276048.html
A just and timely ending
By Tim Luckhurst
I HAVE a modicum of sympathy for David Smith, the builder’s merchant from Co Durham who has received death threats for killing greyhounds. The anthropomorphism required to put a human being in fear of his life for this non-crime is a bit extreme.
Greyhounds are bred to race. When they can no longer run fast they have reached the end of their useful existence. It is possible to keep them as pets, but the morality of such a decision is at least questionable. Retired they consume protein that could be more compassionately used to relieve famine in the developing world. It is a source of outrage to the citizens of poor nations: should canine appetites really take precedence over the survival of human children?
Of course many pet owners keep animals that have never served an economic purpose and never can. Childless couples regard such creatures as substitutes for offspring. Widows and widowers crave company: a loyal dog can provide it. Many families believe domestic animals make amiable and educational companions for children. Strict moral pragmatism would outlaw such practices. But that could never happen in Britain. Our affection for animals is too intense.
But to insist that Mr Smith has behaved disgracefully is a step too far. Distasteful as many people will find his actions, he killed those dogs legally by a method routinely used in abattoirs. There are legitimate questions as to whether he has declared the resultant income for tax purposes. To have failed in that duty would be genuinely antisocial. So would polluting water supplies by careless disposal. But to persecute a man for offering a necessary service at a price below the market average is unfair.
No wonder the National Greyhound Racing Club is incensed. It knows how often retired dogs are put down and its friends in veterinary medicine charge a lot more for canine euthanasia than Mr Smith. But for others to object to a practice that has been applied to working animals for as long as humans have used their labour is unreasonably sentimental.
Few such beasts relish enforced idleness. It can be compassionate to end their lives when they have ceased to be useful. It is a measure of how far most modern lives are distanced from the natural order that sensible people can imagine otherwise.
This follows the story of the guy for was found to have killed something like 10,000 greyhounds with a bolt-gun once they had been 'finished with' at the racetracks... (that story was posted on Chaz)
What the f--- ? Am I supposed to feel guilty for feeding a Spanish greyhound (why not any dog?) instead of sending the protein off to starving humans elsewhere? When I was younger I spent time in Africa training local people in new skills - is that good undone because I now have and feed an animal!?!?!??! I've just come back from another poor country, no one was mad at me because I keep a pet dog (in fact it casued some genuine interest).
Utter garbage. If I had wasted any cash on a physical copy of this paper I'd keep it in the bathroom for appropriate use.
Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2276048.html
A just and timely ending
By Tim Luckhurst
I HAVE a modicum of sympathy for David Smith, the builder’s merchant from Co Durham who has received death threats for killing greyhounds. The anthropomorphism required to put a human being in fear of his life for this non-crime is a bit extreme.
Greyhounds are bred to race. When they can no longer run fast they have reached the end of their useful existence. It is possible to keep them as pets, but the morality of such a decision is at least questionable. Retired they consume protein that could be more compassionately used to relieve famine in the developing world. It is a source of outrage to the citizens of poor nations: should canine appetites really take precedence over the survival of human children?
Of course many pet owners keep animals that have never served an economic purpose and never can. Childless couples regard such creatures as substitutes for offspring. Widows and widowers crave company: a loyal dog can provide it. Many families believe domestic animals make amiable and educational companions for children. Strict moral pragmatism would outlaw such practices. But that could never happen in Britain. Our affection for animals is too intense.
But to insist that Mr Smith has behaved disgracefully is a step too far. Distasteful as many people will find his actions, he killed those dogs legally by a method routinely used in abattoirs. There are legitimate questions as to whether he has declared the resultant income for tax purposes. To have failed in that duty would be genuinely antisocial. So would polluting water supplies by careless disposal. But to persecute a man for offering a necessary service at a price below the market average is unfair.
No wonder the National Greyhound Racing Club is incensed. It knows how often retired dogs are put down and its friends in veterinary medicine charge a lot more for canine euthanasia than Mr Smith. But for others to object to a practice that has been applied to working animals for as long as humans have used their labour is unreasonably sentimental.
Few such beasts relish enforced idleness. It can be compassionate to end their lives when they have ceased to be useful. It is a measure of how far most modern lives are distanced from the natural order that sensible people can imagine otherwise.
