Well, drowning being more humane than stomping still seems pretty counterintuitive to me, but the car exhaust sounds good. You and Jasmijn de Boo should get together and do some experiments or something. You're right though, I don't think I've seen anything drown.
I'm happy for children to be carefully introduced to humane, necessary deaths. I think you agree that it's not great to introduce them to inhumane methods of killing though. I personally know hunters who are admirably concerned about the suffering of their prey, but I've also heard stories that I believe about people who do torture animals.
I also think it's fair enough if some decide they want no part in the death of animals at all, as long as they're reasonably consistent in their lifestyle choices and can at least imagine other points of view.
Sounds like you've been chased out of town by angry pitchfork wielding vegans once or twice...
I am happy that you see it as a complicated issue. The article seemed to paint it black and white, so I may have over-compensated some.
I also think it's fair enough if some decide they want no part in the death of animals at all, as long as they're reasonably consistent in their lifestyle choices and can at least imagine other points of view.
I am glad that many are able to exist without having to make those choices. They do not get any 'morality-points' for it though. To often they will feel superior, or will attack others because they believe that they have a moral superiority.
They are only able to have that privilege because the rest of us will pick up the slack for them.
Sounds like you've been chased out of town by angry pitchfork wielding vegans once or twice...
I've been chased out of town by more than just vegans. I have a way with words :)
While ethical animal treatment is a sore spot for me, it is more about the attitude of those who believe that their truth is the only truth, and any who do not accept it are bad or evil.
So often, when I see an article like this one that tries to put that spin on a complicated issue, I'll toss in some counter-arguments.
Drowning is not as inhumane as it is made out to be. It is painless.
It is more humane than shooting, which is considered fine. It is far more humane than stomping. Stomping, shooting, and many other methods have a high chance of not being immediately fatal, resulting in a painful, and messy, death.
Whether drowning is a 'good' option or not is debatable. There are better ways, but usually not practical. For example, overdosing an animal with morphine would be very humane. But also generally impractical.
My preferred method is not much different than the drownings. I use a plastic bag and car exhaust. I have read that death that way is either painless, or not much more than a headache.
I'm not sure what you mean by 'unnecessarily cruel'. Do you mean cruel to the animal or child? I covered animal above, and will somewhat cover child below. Also, it is not slow.
I'm not sure if you've seen animals drowned. It is not as traumatic, or eventful as you might expect. And desensitizing the children to this type of event, may be part of the goal.
Life is not always beautiful. It can be brutal, ugly, and unforgiving. If a child is going to survive and become a competent adult, they need to learn how to deal with it. They need to learn how to do what must be done, even when they don't like it.
The children are not being taught that it is fun to kill. They are being taught that it is necessary.
And I would suggest that anyone who disagrees with that has lived a sheltered life, that was probably made possible by others doing the dirty deeds for them.
The kind of people that wrote this article would not survive well in remote, or rural areas. If the country's welfare was put solely in their hands, the country would rapidly fall apart.
Teaching children that hard choices must be made, and carried out, is an important life lesson.
I didn't want to pull the trigger the first time I killed an animal.
I was a sensitive child. Stop laughing, I wasn't always an asshole.
But if I had not learned to value my head over my heart, life would have been much harder for my family.
This is a common trend I have noticed. The people who are quickest to label others as monsters, almost always come from a privileged life. One often made possible by the people they attack.