Something I Feel Strongly about

Who here wears fur coats or leather? I recently wrote a poem in response to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbOQU4RI-Ws&feature=related

The animals are beaten, strangled, hung, and decapitated, to be skinned alive. Bullets cost money and they don't even break their necks. I understand the video (if watched will shock you), but the best protest is to be aware. I think it's disgusting, and 'inhuman' isn't even the right word to describe it. I want to know what you think of it. The people who do it, do not deserve to live.

'Inhuman' just doesn't suffice. Vile and corrupt. It is infuriating to think that someone could do that with their own bare hands, to destroy a life in a most obscene and malignant way. I will never understand why this kind of behaviour is encouraged.

I'm glad you wrote about this.

I had to write a poem about it because I was sickened..

"You can kill the protester, but bullets can't kill the protest."

You're not alone, this is also something that I feel strongly about as well...

To see innocent animals ('innocent' being the best word to describe them) being abused or killed senselessly, mercilessly & barbarically make me sick; both physically & mentally, to my stomach with sadness, disgust & anger.

If I'm not mistaken, that kind of destructive behavior ('destructive' being an understatement) is associated with some of the characteristics; signs, of a psychopath.

The thing is though; I think that killing animals for meat is more 'humane' than skinning them alive for fashion. Seals are beaten round the heads with spiked clubs in front of their mothers just so their fur can be stripped from them.

I wouldn't say psychopaths, it's just China (in which it's worse) have a different culture than us and they don't see it as brutal slaughter. Just money on the table.

But we see the inhuman acts committed against other humans every day on the News. It's never to be ignored, you're right, but this is about putting an animal through unimaginable pain just so their fur can be part of (not even a full) coat.

I didn't say it was okay for them to be beaten (which in good slaughterhouses), they're 'only' killed. I'm against the treatment of animals in China and it's an isolated opinion against HOW they're killed. Did you watch the video?

I've never ate red meat in my life and I only eat fish and chicken on rare occasion. Why did you assume I ate meat? Interested.

I wasn't angry at you, just questioning the assumption

I couldn't get past the first 40 seconds, I felt sick.

Well good point about the human thing, humans are only really concerned about humans half the time. It's cause we see everything else as inferior and 'under' us. To the people who kill them, it's just a number.

'do you know how many animals I had to sleep with to get this fur coat.'

Disgusting.

Part of our use of animals seems to fall into the natural way of life. Energy changes form and kind and is passed through a number of cycles. We eat plants and animals to assimilate their energy and nutrients. We are a part of that same cycle.

Except... there are certain ways in which we've removed ourselves from the cycle. Human consciousness and intelligence has reached a point where we can manipulate nature to form to our particular needs, instead of fitting into our place within it.

Eating meat, I think, is not necessarily bad. There are many animals, I think, that would not hesitate to treat us in kind. To simply sanctify animals for their innocence might be too simplistic. Two hundred years ago, when a pioneer shoots a deer to feed his family, I don't see a problem with this. However, that is obviously not how things are done now and in most of the western work. The problem and the difference seems to be the mass production of goods, which turns the pattern of life and death, taking and reciprocating, into an impersonal, gruesome economic enterprise. People are so far removed from their actions, whether slaughtering animals in mass quantities for food, or forcing children to work in sweat shops to make their clothing, that it seems to be the system, more than the specific actions, that is the problem.

As a species with many... extra advantages... I feel that its our duty to be caregivers of the world - maybe taking what we can get to live well, but no more. Above all, it seems to come down to the idea of respect. Can we respect the world we leech all of our wealth from? Can we take responsibilities for our actions, and risk become emotionally invested in our choices, enough that we need not feel guilt for them? If we continue to consciously act out our greed... can we reach a way of thinking where we're able to live with that?

I'm not sure if there's a good answer now. But that's enough word vomit for the moment.

Okay, I don't eat meat at all. And I don't even eat fish. I agree and dissagree with everything said here.

We shouldn't be harassing or preaching to everyone who does wear fur and leather, or does eat meat. Join PETA if you wanted to do that. It's their lives. Yeah I think it's totally wrong but no one can change their opinions. Sorry if this makes anyone mad but this is just what I think.

Not preaching, just stating an opinion and was just hoping for some discussion. :) I don't have a particular 'problem' with anyone who wears it, just think the way they kill the animals is ridiculously disgusting.

I don't have a problem with people eating meat just as long as the animals were killed quickly and painlessly (or rather, with a minimal amount of pain for I imagine being murdered is painful no matter the method of murder).

I have a problem with people killing animals for their furs or for no apparent reason other than selfishness and coldhearted cruelty (I'm referring mainly to the recent genocide of Egyptian pigs due to the outbreak of the Swine Flu...which hasn't even reached Egypt!).

I've seen various videos by PETA on animal cruelty and have often time find myself thoroughly disgusted with people. I couldn't make myself watch your video for I am already mourning the loss of 300,000+ pigs, but trust that I know what you're talking about.

PETA did a documentary on JLo's fur coats once; you get to see the process of someone obtaining (maybe the word "obtain" is too mild)--ripping--the furs of the animals' backs and carelessly just tossing them (still very much alive) into a pile of others much like themselves. It was heartbreaking because you could still hear the cries and see the fear in their eyes. There were also other clips of animal cruelty where cows were being harassed for their milk and chickens for their meat (KFC)...one worker even carelessly stepped on a chicken's neck! Apologies if my words were too graphic.

Ugh, I get so mad whenever I see someone in a fur coat...especially if he or she is a passenger on a bus. It just seems illogical to me that someone would spend that much to wear animal skin, but is too cheap to buy a car. Seriously, what the Heck.

Oh, like you, I only eat fish and chicken on rare occasions.

I have a problem with people killing animals for their furs or for no apparent reason other than selfishness and coldhearted cruelty

Meat is not a necessity in our diet, so wouldn't killing them for food be the same as above? killing is killing whether it is minimal pain or all out torture.

(I'm referring mainly to the recent genocide of Egyptian pigs due to the outbreak of the Swine Flu...which hasn't even reached Egypt!).

It hasn't even been proven it passed from pigs, infact it is a blend of 3 flu, including bird flu, it was only called swine flu because it shared many characteristics and they didn't have a full break down yet.

The way we treat this planet and that means everything on it including ourselves, is horrendous, jump on every band wagon, not just the furry ones because they're cute.

"Meat is not a necessity in our diet, so wouldn't killing them for food be the same as above? killing is killing whether it is minimal pain or all out torture."

-Not everyone care that meat is not a necessity in our diet. And until everyone do, I'd prefer them to kill these animals in the quickest and most painless ways possible. Murder is murder, yes. And pain is pain. But there are ways to quicken death and not prolong their agony. After that, it just becomes torture. I guess what I'm trying to say is...I'm against animal cruelty, not human survival. Animals eat animals. True story.

Anyway, if it's not to survive, it's still good for the ecosystem. Keeps species from overpopulating. Yes, I understand that humans are quickly overpopulating, too. But unfortunately, we're not cannibalistic by nature and we tend to kill off potential predators. But if we were, I'd be happy to feast on humans with you.

"It hasn't even been proven it passed from pigs, infact it is a blend of 3 flu, including bird flu, it was only called swine flu because it shared many characteristics and they didn't have a full break down yet."

-Yes, yes. I understand your point. But I think you misunderstood me. The government in Egypt ordered those 300,000+ pigs to be slaughtered, not I. They killed those pigs as a precaution against the Swine Flu even though there are no reported case in Egypt as of April 29, 2009; it is they who need to be educated.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090429/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt_swine_flu

Cute furry animals are eaten, too.

Edited: "The World Without Us"-Alan Weisman

A book about how the world would revert back to its original self if humans were to just disappear. I liked it.

"The government in Egypt ordered those 300,000+ pigs to be slaughtered, not I."

Is it just me or did I miss the part where I said it was your fault? I think I was pointing out it was pointless to have killed all those pigs.

You missed the whole point of my post anyway lol

Sorry, m'dear. You didn't clarify. =)

When you quoted me, I thought you taking a personal attack on my beliefs. No harm done.

Just a case of miscommunication, is all.

Which often happens in these threads..

Indeed. And I wasn't saying that you were preaching. Haha. It's just that some people do. There's this one girl in my school, and she's kinda crazy. She tries to start riots in lunch at school, and she sticks PETA stickers and fliers around on things. Also she wears these rediculous shirts.

I'm just glad this thread hasn't gone psychotic! Haha.

I can see alot of you with blank placard signs just waiting to protest something...anything with no real life experience to back up your righteous claims.

Bro, animals use each other...it's part of nature and if you don't like it, go vegan...wear straw clothes and don't use any medical drugs at all, cause all of them are tested on animals.

"The people who do it, do not deserve to live."

Now you are just being silly. Animals are not equal to humans and they never will or should be. Unless we all stop eating them and using them for our various needs, on a global scale you should not be saying this.

I'm sorry, but how are people who commit the acts that are in the video, 'above' animals? Thats what they look like to me.

I personally dont see how some people are 'higher' than animals. They brutally kill and torture living things because they are too greedy and money hungry to do it the humane way?
Also, we have other ways of keeping warm.. leather and fur are not our only materials. So why use animal skin? Because people think its classier? Pfft.

Cause we're still cavemen

"Bro, animals use each other...it's part of nature"

Thats true, but the way in which they kill them is just sick.

Kevin pretty much hit that on the nose.

How did he? Animals eat each other to survive..that's not what we're talking about here..

When has the question of eating meat ever crossed paths to being skinned ( in many cases alive)

Let me just say how laughable it is to actually equate the two... The former actually a necessity while the latter a horrid indulgence...

I think that fur, unless used on necessity is actually a baseless murder... And no animal kills for their own needless indulgence..

"The former actually a necessity while the latter a horrid indulgence..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvlTECbPagI

I don't see much difference, meat isn't a necessity either, ask any vegan out there.

I didn't want to watch anymore once he slammed the animal on the ground.

I simply believe that we have neglected many things as human beings. Animals being one of those many things.

Even if you choose to kill an animal to fill your need for food or clothing or whatever....you do not have to torture them to do it, it could at least be swift and painless!

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
Charles R. Swindoll

I completely agree. People have taken this whole Darwin's theory about us apparently being the best survivors and taken it to mean that we're so far above other species that killing for fun isn't wrong. But its really stupid to think that way. Completely stupid.

That video is just horrifying. I had to turn it off half way through. I still have that lump in my throat...
It's just terrible.

I think I deer getting shot would have it better. Bullets are the fastest way to die other than having a broken neck. An animal thats skinned alive has to deal with the pain throughout the skinning and until it finally just bleeds to death. I think killing animals at all is stupid. The only thing we really need from them is iron and that can be taken in liquid form on its own. Killing at all is senseless but no one really cares about that because we've all been desensitized to think that its natural our entire lives. -shrug-