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> Subject: Re: Animal rights
>
> "Mark D. Fulwiler" wrote:
>
> > I have a friend who is trying to convince me that torturing cats
should
> > be legal ......snip..........
> > At any rate, I pointed out to him that I don't give a damn about
what
> > Miss Rand thinks about the "rights" of sadistic cat torturers, but
if he
> > had a good extralegal solution to the problem of cruelty to animals
, I
> > would entertain the idea. He doesn't think people should torture
cats,
> > only that it should be legally allowed.
> >
> > I have two cats, so I am a bit biased in favor of the critters.
> >
>
> Well, are your cats fixed? That seems to me to be (presupposing the
animal
> rights argument) to be as torturous as female circumcision in
humans....
>
> Mike Lorrey
>
Yes, my cats are fixed. You cannot get a cat from the Humane Society that has not been fixed. (This is done using an anesthetic, so the cat does not suffer.) Yes, I suppose an animal "rights" person could argue that you are denying cats the experience of sexual pleasure. However, the consequences of not sterilizing some cats and letting them all "do their thing" would be millions more strays running around leading miserable lives, getting diseases, starving to death and being squashed by cars. Just taking a purely utilitarian approach towards animal welfare (forget "rights") argues strongly in favor of sterilization. Also, I doubt very much whether sterilized cats really are in terrible psychic agony over their condition, unlike humans.
I really have not come across a good argument for twisting cats necks and throwing them against a wall. The question is whether this ought to be legally prohibited or not.
Mark D. Fulwiler
...
Since nanoyear is around 2020 and the genome mapping projects are nearing completion, along with 10 year timeframes for at least one memory enhancement therapy, the logical thing to do would depend on the age of your cat. Cats in my experience have lived anything from 12 years to 22 years, although around 14 is probably the common limit currently. Therefore, yearly contraceptive implants in your cat would be the trick ethically. In only a few years, and certainly under a decade, you can start to boost your cat, and eventually seek its opinion more fully. The main thing to concentrate on would be extra lifespan. After nanoyear you can have your own private animal hospital service in your backyard gunkpool and manufacture appropriate intra-cellular nanotechnology. If your cat is older, however, you will probably have to spend a substantial sum of money (while money is around) to give it a chance, and if it is now two or three years from apparent death then sterilization may be the humane option, although I would always allow one litter for a female cat, since they seem to like having them in my assessment.
As for killing any animal, this should be legally prohibited in my opinion. Such a prohibition would be a prelude to the institution of non-force (i.e. against non-consensual force), which applies across the post-Escalation worlds. This is effected by protective screening from more complex universal consciousness (i.e. the largest group mind matrixes).
Avatar Polymorph
28 before Escalation
--------------29C33E34A106BAD765DD6263 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Subject: Re: Animal rights
>
> "Mark D. Fulwiler" wrote:
>
> > I have a friend who is trying to convince me that torturing cats should
> > be legal ......snip..........
> > At any rate, I pointed out to him that I don't give a damn about what
> > Miss Rand thinks about the "rights" of sadistic cat torturers, but if he
> > had a good extralegal solution to the problem of cruelty to animals , I
> > would entertain the idea. He doesn't think people should torture cats,
> > only that it should be legally allowed.
> >
> > I have two cats, so I am a bit biased in favor of the critters.
> >
>
> Well, are your cats fixed? That seems to me to be (presupposing the animal
> rights argument) to be as torturous as female circumcision in humans....
>
> Mike Lorrey
>Yes, my cats are fixed. You cannot get a cat from the Humane Society
that has not been fixed. (This is done using an anesthetic, so the cat
does not suffer.) Yes, I suppose an animal "rights" person could argue
that you are denying cats the experience of sexual pleasure. However,
the consequences of not sterilizing some cats and letting them all "do
their thing" would be millions more strays running around leading
miserable lives, getting diseases, starving to death and being squashed
by cars. Just taking a purely utilitarian approach towards animal
welfare (forget "rights") argues strongly in favor of sterilization.
Also, I doubt very much whether sterilized cats really are in terrible
psychic agony over their condition, unlike humans.I really have not come across a good argument for twisting cats necks
and throwing them against a wall. The question is whether this ought to
be legally prohibited or not.Mark D. Fulwiler
...
Since nanoyear is around 2020 and the genome mapping projects are nearing completion, along with 10 year timeframes for at least one memory enhancement therapy, the logical thing to do would depend on the age of your cat. Cats in my experience have lived anything from 12 years to 22 years, although around 14 is probably the common limit currently. Therefore, yearly contraceptive implants in your cat would be the trick ethically. In only a few years, and certainly under a decade, you can start to boost your cat, and eventually seek its opinion more fully. The main thing to concentrate on would be extra lifespan. After nanoyear you can have your own private animal hospital service in your backyard gunkpool and manufacture appropriate intra-cellular nanotechnology. If your cat is older, however, you will probably have to spend a substantial sum of money (while money is around) to give it a chance, and if it is now two or three years from apparent death then sterilization may be the humane option, although I would always allow one litter for a female cat, since they seem to like having them in my assessment.
As for killing any animal, this should be legally prohibited in my opinion. Such a prohibition would be a prelude to the institution of non-force (i.e. against non-consensual force), which applies across the post-Escalation worlds. This is effected by protective screening from more complex universal consciousness (i.e. the largest group mind matrixes).
Avatar Polymorph
28 before Escalation --------------29C33E34A106BAD765DD6263--