Authorities in Dallas say a fire that broke out at a shopping center in Dallas has killed more than 500 animals, most of which were small birds

Summary

A fire at a Dallas shopping center killed over 500 animals, mostly small birds, from smoke inhalation.

The fire, which took two hours to extinguish, caused severe damage to the building but no human injuries.

  • Flying Squid
    0•5 days ago

    Yes. Killing things is an act of violence. I do not disagree. We are not talking about that. We’re also not talking about grabbing a pigeon and putting it in a cage or bringing something from the rainforest home.

    The vast majority of birds kept as pets have been bred to domestication. They are not caught wild. Plenty of them didn’t even exist before we started breeding them.

    That doesn’t justify it, but it also does not have anything to do with the scenarios you’re presenting.

    All you are doing is muddying the waters and it will just make people think you’re unserious and about as effective at stopping animal cruelty with pets as PETA is stopping people eating meat.

    People really need to read Marshall McLuhan.

    • themeatbridge
      4•5 days ago

      You’re arguing past the point. Deprivation is violence. That’s just the definition, and there’s nothing to argue about there.

      I’m not suggesting you to run through the aisles of your local PetCo and free all the little creatures. I’m pointing out that we, as a civilization, are able to compartmentalize and justify almost anything if we accept it as normal. Consider the entire concept of “bred for domestication” and think about the generations of animals that have lived and died in small boxes so that we could have the prettiest and most docile birds. Does that really mitigate the suffering of caged finches?

      On the scale of human atrocities, that’s so close to zero that it does not merit inclusion. But it’s not quite zero, and it reveals our intimate relationship with suffering as a commodity. There’s nothing wrong with having pets, just like there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the modern world and all of its conveniences. We’re all just individual snowflakes in the avalanche of human history, and in our brief lives we try to do the best we can with the limited control we get.

      • Flying Squid
        1•5 days ago

        See my last two sentences. Especially the last one.

        Does that really mitigate the suffering of caged finches?

        I’ve repeatedly said it isn’t justified. This literally started with me saying that. Have you not read a single one of my comments?