It’s debatable, but I would say the distinction has a lot to do with how we, very subjectively, identity with the animal, how cute the animal is. I am certain snails suffer when they are crushed, or starved, but it’s hard to have empathy for them (they are small, slimy, no face, can’t scream). What about jellyfish, or plants? Very hard to define where animal cruelty starts and stops.
I am not lecturing anyone here. Just find it interesting to ponder this philosophical question.
Believe me, I don’t think geese are cute. At all. They’re horrific monsters.
But I also don’t think you can equate the suffering a goose goes through, which takes a long time, incidentally, with the suffering something we normally treat as a pest might go through.
Because they’re snails and not geese.
Or are you going to say that people who kill snails when they’re invading a garden are practicing animal cruelty?
It’s debatable, but I would say the distinction has a lot to do with how we, very subjectively, identity with the animal, how cute the animal is. I am certain snails suffer when they are crushed, or starved, but it’s hard to have empathy for them (they are small, slimy, no face, can’t scream). What about jellyfish, or plants? Very hard to define where animal cruelty starts and stops.
I am not lecturing anyone here. Just find it interesting to ponder this philosophical question.
Believe me, I don’t think geese are cute. At all. They’re horrific monsters.
But I also don’t think you can equate the suffering a goose goes through, which takes a long time, incidentally, with the suffering something we normally treat as a pest might go through.