Comments on: Kill People But Not Dogs and Cats

By: Gene Logsdon

Gene Logsdon — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:16:17 +0000

Ken B Can’t argue with you on that. I wrestle with this inescapable dilemma all the time. Gene

By: Ken B

Ken B — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 07:02:59 +0000

I had to smile when Gene mentioned the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With two sons there who have told me stories of whatt they saw Hussein and the Taliban do, it seems to me that people like Gene who condemn war as insane are correct, but are also like the people aghast at the necessary killing of animals. The necessity of war and killing becomes more understandable once you have witnessed the results of two legged predators as well as four legged ones. (Diplomacy and negotiations work with brutal dictators as well as negotiating with a raccoon about the rights of chickens.)

Of course, you can always condemn violence of any kind and simultaneously demand that somebody do something to stop it…somebody else.

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 01:56:09 +0000

Very shortly after reading this post I walked past our television, inside of which one of the characters in the movie exclaimed to the other that her dog, which was just given a piece of meat by the second character, was a vegetarian subsisting on beans, broccoli, and tofu. Good grief is right.

Oh yeah, and I was apparently under the faulty impression that live traps were intended to keep the pest alive until I could kill it. Silly me.

By: Richard Gilbert

Richard Gilbert — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:26:14 +0000

Great column, Gene. Our society has gotten rather out of touch regarding the fact that humans live by the deaths of other creatures, one way or another. To not be aware of this is to be ignorant and sentimental, both of which foster cruelty, including high-tech war and factory farms. This would be a better country if everyone had to butcher his own chickens, at least.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:23:36 +0000

Honey worked for me – the skunk showed up within a day. Though he may have been mildly disappointed when he bit into a wasp nest – thought he was getting a two-fer.

By: Gene Logsdon

Gene Logsdon — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:21:49 +0000

paranoid idot savant: You’re right. that guy deserves to be removed from society. Too bad the dog didn’t get him first.
Kyle: Skunks have been solving our ground wasp over population problem for years. I didn’t know about the honey. Skunks come anyway but maybe honey will bring them quicker.

By: KJMClark

KJMClark — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 12:38:40 +0000

It is funny how many people think they’re being more humane by dumping the animals somewhere else. I was talking to some friends at work this week when they pointed out they live-trap pests and “take them out to the country”. I pointed out that they’re just taking them out where some poor farmer is going to have to shoot them. They thought the blood would be on the farmer’s hands, but they had to think about it more when I pointed out they were the ones who decided to deliver the animals to the executioner.

Honestly, I think the dog and cat “murders” are usually people who killed maliciously. I’ve never heard of anyone getting in trouble for putting an animal down quickly for a good reason, even in cities. Of course, pulling out a gun in the city is usually illegal, but baseball bats are often as effect and perfectly legal.

The problems come in when someone decides that the neighbor’s animals need to be put down. In that case, they’re supposed to call the police, even though the police really have better things to do with their time. Often pet owners will shape up when they have to pick up their pet at the pound and pay a $100 fine.