Human Use and Abuse of Animals

The documentary, “To Love or to Kill, Humans vs. The Animals” was a very graphic depiction of human use and abuse of animals. I found this movie very interesting and informative. The movie not only showed the type of animal treatment in the United States but also other Countries around the world. The United States is always targeted for our poor treatment of animals and Countries such as Spain and China are over looked. It is evident that this animal abuse occurs all over the world, not just here in The States.

I found the documentary to be slightly biased. It seemed like they tried turning everything into abuse of animals. I do not believe that hunting is abuse to animals, rather it is population control. There are specific areas of land, times of the year, and specific rules that are clearly spelled out to hunters. The movie depicted hunting to be an angry sport by which people hunt animals just to watch the animal die and suffer. The men that were killing the animals in the movie were enjoying watching their prey undergo pain. Hunters do not wound the animals they are hunting to watch it suffer. There is an enormous difference between hunting and what was depicted in the documentary.

I did find the pidgin killings to be a bit excessive and abusive. But I find myself asking why these people are allowed to do this? If this is animal abuse, why are they allowed to do it? If it was abuse, wouldn’t it be outlawed? Perhaps it isn’t outlawed because the animals that they are killing are lower on the animal chain. I completely agree with the Rabi, the United States is not consistent with the differentiation of animals and pets. We allow slaughtering of cows for food but frown upon slaughtering of horses. Why? We need to develop a better system that will clearly state what animals are pets and what are for food and “our enjoyment.”

The Chinese are very consistent with their culture, because there is no difference between animals and pets. Everything that moves is considered food in their culture. There is no difference between cats, dogs, frogs, beetles, snakes, or any other animals, they are all necessary for their survival. Although this seems outrageous to us, their system eliminates the doubt of animal abuse. Even though their culture seems consistent, I still find myself squirming at the thought of killing kittens for food.

It was interesting to watch everyone’s reaction during the Chinese section of the movie, because no one could watch the TV. I found myself relating the kittens and cats to my own pets at home, and I’m sure that’s what everyone else was doing. It is evident that there has to be a line drawn between pets and food. We obviously need animals for food and our survival. (You may disagree if you do not eat meat.) So something needs to be done to decide what is morally and ethically right.