Do we have the right to...

Do we have the right to kill an animal if that animal has almost literally killed us? People say that it is a sin to kill animals for no reason, but what if you have a really good reason?

I wouldn't exactly kill an animal if I were to go on a walk in a deep forest, and that animal was just using defense to defend it's family. But if that animal just randomly tries and almost kills me then do I have the right?

 

Killing in self-defense is usually fine, especially if the force used is reasonable force (i.e. roughly equal to the force being used against you). However, I hate and despise killing for fun or for sport. Neither are acceptable or excusable.

The main argument relating to this was fox hunting, it was "tradition" and the ponces in England wanted to continue their tradition. They said that foxes were vermin (on an equal level to rats) that terrorised farms and destroyed livestock (well, chickens). But that is just lies, a fox kills a chicken to live. It is doing what it was born to do, it is following instinct. There is no excuse to kill them. Luckily the practice was banned (unfortunately this left a masive surplus of fox hunting dogs with nowhere to put them, I'm not sure how many were put down =/)

 

I believe that killing of any living thing is only justified if it is for the survival of the other living being.
Killing from being attacked is acceptable; creatures have defended them selves for eons, by defence mechanisms such as spikes on their backs, poison on the scales, even basic claws to fight with have always been around.

Hunting is only good if you use every part of your kill, killing it for no reason is ignorant and unacceptable. Humans are the only animals to hunt for sport; taking pleasure from hunting for only killing a living thing is appalling.

Humans have perverted 'killing for survival' by breeding cows from birth to be slaughtered at.
Imagine humans were bred in cages to one day be killed when the are ‘just right’ for food, it is monstrous and we give no chance for these creatures to even fight for their lives and survival because we have already cut off their chances the moment they are born.

Umm, actually that is what vermin is, foxes disturbs farms and livestock, as much as any mice eats grain or wheat. Though it went to far when it was made into a sport, we should never of had it, it disgraces the foxes life. We aren't going to be having mice hunts where we get our cats to dress up in a suit and blow a horn while chasing mice out of the fields, it's stupid.

 

I don't think anyone has any rights. But at the same time has every right imaginable. Strange thought but in reality it is very true. I try not to apply what I can and can't do to the social system; makes me think easier. XD

And well, in reality, you could kill a dog for no reason. What makes it any better or worse than killing it if you have a "decent" reason? Nothing. Do I think it is right and do-able? Probably not, but if it is trying to kill you then yes you would have a legit reason.

 

This is definately a very complex question considering how the society nowadays with lawyers and all that junk LOVES to bend around the idea of "self-defense" and it's limits.

Moving on, I would say yes. In most perspectives, humans are held more highly than animals so I guess our protection is first priority. However, while were on the topic, I think it's best we define the borderlines of "self-defense". IMO, I'd say once the job's done, just leave it in the past. Ex. If a dog attacks you and you kill it in self-defense, it's fine for that one instance, but that doesn't give you the rights to harm other innocent dogs. In short, even though the lives of humans are held higher in regard than most animals, we should develop the conscience that harming other animals for no/shallow reasons are unacceptable.

 

um what kinnd of question is that... people say its a moral thing to do... and where does it say its a sin to kill animals... in the bible people killed sheep or somthing... so that god can forgive them...

but idk if anyone kills an animal (if the animal attacked first)... its either them or us

i hit my dog if he growls/bite... now he's a good dog

 

I think killing an animal is alright if you're defending yourself or feeding yourself. Other than that, it's wrong.

 

I am just playing Devil's advocate here, to try and provoke thought.

Absol, you say that killing an animal for enjoyment would be wrong, but killing for food would be fine.

But you can survive on vegetables. Killing and eating an animal is for enjoyment, with a side effect of eating. Like fox hunting is for enjoyment, with a side effect of clearing away vermin.

 

We are not herbivores, we are omnivours, we were designed to eat meat and vegetation, denying either is almost like denying you are human, since you aren't doing what you were designed for.

No animals should be killed for enjoyment, but they can be killed for food and survival. If an animal killed a human, it wasn't for enjoyment, it was for survival, either because the humans attacked it or it needed food, it is instinct for animals to kill for survival, whats the difference between them and humans? Apart from being 'enlightened' with intelligence?

 

Yeah, in that case I agree. For me, is right also to kill a human if he/she's threatening you with a gun or a knife and if you are in danger of life. However the animals CAN'T BE TOUCHED, because they haven't weapon to defense themselves or our intelligence to escape from the situation, so they are helpless, in the most greater part of cases.

 

Wow, i'm really poking alot of people becaus of what they say lately, i just don't feel people understand completely.

Animals aren't helpless little babies that are dumb, they are hunters, able to kill everything they were deigned to kill, they have evolved so that they can attack their prey and win. Let me use an example. Tigers aren't stupid or helpeless, they have razor sharp teeth and claws that can rip apart any number of living things. They also are smart enough to ambush their prey by hiding vegetation, then they aim for vital organs or parts of the body such as the neck and legs.

Every animal can fight, both animals have a chance of surviving, but nothing is helpless, either with speed or strength, animals can survive, and will always try to.

 

We form our own futures. Many Chinese could not drink milk (or was it alcohol?) , because they were separated from it for so long. We are able to survive on vegetables. Where do you draw the line between food and enjoyment? For example, whale meat. There is not enough if it to be used as a method of survival. Anyone who eats it is doing so for enjoyment.

Also, many animals do toy with their pray. Cats get birds, but they do not eat them. Lions kill humans when playing with them. It is all fun and sheer terror until someone loses an arm.

 

Killing, even for self-defense, is wrong. You should try to get out of there alive instead of killing. Chances are, you're the one who provoked it.

 

So if I burst into your house waving a gun at three AM, you will do nothing? You will just turn and flee? I am insane, and I randomly pick houses. I have been in the papers, so you know I want to kill you simply for the joy I get from watching you plead and bleed. You have a gun though. I have not seen it. You could kill me and save your wife, kids and my future victims. There is no other option.

Who dies?

 

Good point.

 

that's not always the case tho. alot of animals are hunters, like tigers, they WILL attack without any provocation. i mean it's wrong to kill ANYTHING for no reason at all but if something attacked you, you have the RIGHT to defend yourself.

 

Killing is not in anyway OK even if it is in your own defense.I accept that sometimes killing has to be done when you are attacked but it is in no way right.

 

That just means that the Chinese evolved to the pont when they did not need. They could one day evolve to needing it again I suppose, depending on how badly they needed it.
Their is no enjoyment in food, it is a need, not a joy. We need meat for certain properties (only found in types of meat) so we keep healthy, we need vegetation for minerals, vitamins, etc to stay alive. If you enjoy killing something you are a murderer, if you do it for survival you are a lving thing. Living things have killed and killed for them and their families so they can live on, the human population wouldn't be as numerous as it is if we weren't omnivours.

And talking of whale meat, I watched a documentry a bit back and it talked about a small village in the eastern most part of Russia. This group of people lived in their cold ice field, no plants for ages, with 5 hours away from the next closest village, with little amounts of western supplies coming in. The only way they could survive was to hunt seals and whales, they needed 50(or 100)or 2 whales to last them the whole year. They showed how they hunted with the sharpest spears they could make to kill the seals quickly and easily. In the doc, they showed how 2 seals had wandered away from the larger group on the beach, the hunters of the villge approached the seals and woke them up, because they said that it would be dishnourable to the seal if it was attacked in its sleep. When it woke the hunters each took a seal an pierced its flesh straight to its hear, and died in a matter of seconds. After they chanted how they thanked the seals for their sacrifice, they did not wish to kill it but needed it for their families and village, even asking it forgiveness for taking its life.
Also, they showed how they hunted seals and a whale in the water, for the seals they only killed the loners, they never killed mothers or pups, just the seals that had no one.
Next for the whale they hunted it and shot it quickly in the head so it would die peacefully (we weren't shown this because issues), when one of the hunters was interviewed about how many they could hunt if it was legal for them to hunt ove rthe maximum number of 2 whales per year, they said 'We would not hunt any, we have the meat we need, why would we need more?'
These villagers did not hunt for pleasure, but because it is what they have always doen, they have respected the animals they fed on and do not wish to slaughter them in great numbers, only because it is what they do to survive.

And for the 'playing with meat bit' that is because cats usually hunt birds because it is natural instinct for them. When they see a mouse, the small and fast moving creature, they quickly attack, when they see a bird they see another type of mosue that is small and is fasy moving, they can do tell that it is not a mouse, only that it has the same traits as what they shoudl kill.
And the lion kills humans for 3 reasons, because it has invadered their land, it has attacked it or its family or because it has not other menas to feed itself. I do not know other reasons why a lion might attack people of the top of my head.

 

If someone has to kill an animal to survive, I don't see what's wrong with it. Also, I do not mind hunting at all. The only thing I am against truly is poaching or the 'sport' hunting such as fox hunting etc. If people aren't going to eat what they kill, they have no reason to hunt for it. If someone has to kill a wild animal to stop it from harming him/her, well yes, that is what has to happen. It's the rules of nature.

To put it into perspective though, if I'm getting attacked by an animal, I'm going to try to use commonsense and scare it away first but if that doesn't work well, I've got to fight. Nature doesn't just have peace loving leaf eating animals. There are some predators out there. I'm not just going to stand by and get eaten if I can help it. Even with some of the bigger herd animals, they can have bad tempers, especially around mating season. I'm certainly not just going to stand there. I wouldn't stand there if a human attacked me either.

Regardless how people keep trying to say we are above nature etc, we aren't. Some skills are necessary to keep honed. How many people actually do know how to survive in nature anymore? It's kind of amusing to think about. Some things may seem 'barbaric' to some people but to others it is a way of life. I'm certainly not about to tell people that actually eat the food they kill that it is bad for them to do so. The things that bother me more are poachers killing animals for ivory, taking furs etc when they aren't required for survival etc. I'm not an animal activist vegan though by any means. I eat steak, wear leather clothes now and then and I have hunted venison. Hunting in many cases actually helps people to respect nature more than those people who sit and complain eating veggies all day that hunters are so bad. Survival in nature I think is a good thing to teach anyone because you just never know when you might need it.

 

Yeah, you do. It's called self defense. The animal has a right of Self defense as well, if you attack it first, though.