I have always found it very interesting that some folks say keeping captive animals or breeding them is cruel or exploitative and causes them to suffer. Granted some pet owners are ignorant to their animals needs, neglectful and purchase animals on a whim but most are animal lovers who treat pets better than they treat themselves.
Mother nature on the other hand is much crueler than any pet owner could ever be. In the wild 95% of most species will die and suffer horribly in the process due to dehydration, starvation, injury, disease, predators, etc...
Yes this part of the natural process but they suffer none the less.
In captivity those numbers are more than likely reversed. Animals are fed, cared for, given medical attention and even those with birth defects are given a chance to survive. Sadly the news or animal planet never runs a story of good pet owners or breeders, but only the most extreme shocking cases which gives the public a very negative, distorted and inaccurate view of actual pet ownership and breeding. I myself have spent many thousands of dollars on veterinary care but you won't see positive stories of pet owners or breeders on the news(or media) as it has no shock value which equals poor ratings. Yet how many shows do we see where species are falsely identified, misrepresented, facts completely incorrect or distorted to add to the shock value.
This is fuel for the animal rights extremists.
I once read a very accurate observation someone posted about the difference of animal rights advocates and animal rights extremists. I would say most folks here believe in the ethical and humane treatment of animals, as we are mostly animal lovers and do not like to see animals treated badly. Extremists take this much further and feel animal ownership is a form of slavery and support and even teach people how to make bombs to attack laboratories and scientists that use animals for research. They feel taking a human life or suffering is acceptable in order to save animals from from suffering. I am NOT saying all members of PETA or the HSUS support this behavior but those who are in charge and pull the strings fund and even employ folks who do. THIS IS A FACT. I have researched it and seen it with my own eyes. The even sadder part is all those animal lovers that fall into the first category send $ to these folks not knowing how extreme and distorted the view points the leaders of these organizations actually are. I compare this to religious people and religious extremists or fanatics such as Nazi's, KKK and Jihadists. One of the heads of PETA openly protests against the use of animals for medical research yet her life depends daily on medication that is derived from the exact same process she fights against. If this isn't self righteousness and hypocrisy I don't know what is. It is OK for her to benefit from the experimentation on animals but everyone else whose lives may depends on it are not! The argument is suffering which can pull the heart strings of just about everyone but the FACT still remains that Mother Nature will cause exponentially more suffering than all experiments throughout all of history and for the rest of time could ever do. The difference is of course one is the natural process and the other saves countless lives and human suffering. Once again they have put the suffering of lab rats(which most folks would exterminate if they were running through their house or restaurant) over the suffering and death of human beings. This IMO this is good intentions gone seriously out of control.
PETA and HSUS both employ and finacially support convicted animal rights terrorists who have not only terrorized scientists and labs(which save lives) but also post videos on how to make bombs and do the same. They also KILL animals too but it's justified when they do it, PLEASE!
Originally Posted by West Coast Jungle
I have always found it very interesting that some folks say keeping captive animals or breeding them is cruel or exploitative and causes them to suffer. Granted some pet owners are ignorant to their animals needs, neglectful and purchase animals on a whim but most are animal lovers who treat pets better than they treat themselves.
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