Do you, or anyone you know, shoot living things for sport?

BugglyB

catkins wrote: »

I cannot imagine how anyone could get enjoyment from killing any living creature and am glad I don't know anyone who does.

I am a vegetarian and do not wear leather or have leather handbags.

I do not kill any creature. I am terrified of spiders but my husband puts any that come into the house into the shed or garage. We collect up the snails in our garden and take them to the local woods.
Oh and I don't agree with greyhound racing either (or horse racing)

Really you dont know any meat eaters? You must live in a bubble!

cavework

catkins .. that cauli or other veg you skoffed had no way of escape.. Grown with love, happily ready to produce seeds for the next generation and then cruely plucked from their natural enviroment. Then chopped into small pieces and plunged into boiling water while still alive :eek:
Sorry .. only joking and I really do respect your choice. not mine tho
x

lostinrates

catkins wrote: »

I cannot imagine how anyone could get enjoyment from killing any living creature and am glad I don't know anyone who does.

I am a vegetarian and do not wear leather or have leather handbags.

I do not kill any creature. I am terrified of spiders but my husband puts any that come into the house into the shed or garage. We collect up the snails in our garden and take them to the local woods.
Oh and I don't agree with greyhound racing either (or horse racing)

Good for you. I admire people who stick to their convictions. Do you drink milk or milk products?


I used to work in a different area of the animal industry, and my area of interest was welfare and ethics ...so things like food production, sports and other animal exploitation (in a literal rather than emotive) sense all really interest me, and i find my self repeatedly challenging myself.

Despite personally disagreeing with the op's initial standpoint, eating meat, having hunted and been shooting, i do think its right people ask the questions of themselves as much as each other, and reevaluate if their choices are still right for them. Its a shame when old cliches and manipulations of the truth are wheeled out imo. When i find myself uncomfortable of the truth of a situation is when i question whether i need to change my standpoint on it. This includes lifestyle choices like shooting, and more basic ones, like where my meat comes from and how i feel about milk products.

aliasojo

jackyann wrote: »

Actually OP, going right back to your first point, you do need to help your daughter cope with this. When my kids were young we did a lot of "I disagree with X, but some people like it / think it's correct / feel that they have to...." do whatever X was.
I do hope that you can use this thread to talk to your daughter about others' point of view. One of the most helpful things we can give our kids is the ability to debate properly without denigrating others. I don't know if you can also plan outings / get her involved in other activities on the days when you know she'll be upset.

Wise post, thank you.

Thanks to the posters who have posted reasonable and informative comments, I do now feel further educated with regards to this subject. I have to be honest and say it still doesn't sit completely well with me, but I am aware that's probably more to do with my own emotional feelings with regards to big man v's small animal, rather than being based on considered thought, iyswim.

I do intend discussing this in an unbiased way with daughter and will raise the points made on the thread but it will have to get in line as we are taken up with another 'daughter problem' at the moment and it's one of those 'all you can think about for now' sort of topics.

Rikki

I think sometimes we bumble through life without thinking too much about what goes on around us until a child asks a random question. Its then we realise we have never really given it much thought and find we don't have an informed answer.

cavework

Aliasojo .. firstly .. thank you for putting up this thread. It has enabled people with opposing opinions to discuss the issues you raised without falling out.
Kids find it hard to comprehend that the meat we eat comes from living animals that have to die before we get to eat them
They happily go on their game stations and kill virtual living people without a qualm but question why some people eat furry bunnies ! and you are on a slippery slope xxx

Lotus-eater

cavework wrote: »

Kids find it hard to comprehend that the meat we eat comes from living animals that have to die before we get to eat them

That is why I've educated mine to know exactly where our meat comes from, right from when they were small.

Now the eldest (8) wants to be a vegetarian, not because of what she knows about animals being killed, more just because she likes the idea.
And that's fine by me, I'm not letting her go yet, she's too young and I don't want the hassle of doing separate meals. But I'm sure she will be at some point.

The thing is that they have the information and it's up to them to decide what to do.

lostinrates

Lotus-eater wrote: »

That is why I've educated mine to know exactly where our meat comes from, right from when they were small.

Now the eldest (8) wants to be a vegetarian, not because of what she knows about animals being killed, more just because she likes the idea.
And that's fine by me, I'm not letting her go yet, she's too young and I don't want the hassle of doing separate meals. But I'm sure she will be at some point.

The thing is that they have the information and it's up to them to decide what to do.

Sadly my neices had to learn about death young. Understanding meat and food and the way things were actually really helped them with that. We were explaining someone was dead and the eldest one piped up 'dead? Like a pheasant'. Her dad was really keen on roadkill so as well as understanding all meat was animals they were used to suddenly having the car pulled over and someone jumping out, and indeed, would tell me and their mother off for not picking up something. I have no idea if half the things i said were 'too far gone' really were:o.

Understanding the way food chains work and industries work in our lives makes the things is good in its own right, but it also made difficult events easier for these children to understand. Thankfully, they never asked why we were not eating the deceased.:eek::D

Rikki

lostinrates wrote: »

Sadly my neices had to learn about death young. Understanding meat and food and the way things were actually really helped them with that. We were explaining someone was dead and the eldest one piped up 'dead? Like a pheasant'. Her dad was really keen on roadkill so as well as understanding all meat was animals they were used to suddenly having the car pulled over and someone jumping out, and indeed, would tell me and their mother off for not picking up something. I have no idea if half the things i said were 'too far gone' really were:o.

Understanding the way food chains work and industries work in our lives makes the things is good in its own right, but it also made difficult events easier for these children to understand. Thankfully, they never asked why we were not eating the deceased.:eek::D

This reminded me of something that happened about ten years ago when my youngest was just six.

We were driving back from Gran's. We came round the corner at 70 miles an hour a pigeon took off from the road in front of us and was only bumper height when I hit it. He turned and looked out the rear view window, feathers every where, he said 'Where's the meat?'.
He was so used to seeing me make game birds oven ready he seemed to forget they were once alive.

He did ask once if the duck I was preparing was one he had fed bread to. :eek: That did freak me out a little. _pale_ How a child's mind works.

Derivative

aliasojo wrote: »

In fact, you really just posted to tell me I shouldn't hold this opinion, end of.

I have no objection to you holding an opinion, but this line in particular bugged me:

I also don't understand why they can't substitute clay pigeons in place of a live bird. The object is to hit a target so why does it have to be a live one?

Personally holding an opinion is rather different from not being able to understand why others don't hold your opinion.

You consider shooting pheasants cruel - therefore you wouldn't do it. Arguably an admirable viewpoint, and understandable given your moral beliefs.

Not everyone would agree with that, mainly because animal 'cruelty' is not universally accepted as abhorrent. You can't apply your morals to other peoples' lives if they don't share them - that causes all sorts of problems.

I apologise for the strawman, but think about the following:

I don't like country music, I think it's incredibly boring and samey. But I can understand why others enjoy listening to it - we all have different tastes.

I'm not really sure what is difficult to 'understand' about it, essentially it's a difference in opinion.

edit: forgot to reply to the quote. clay pigeons aren't a direct substitute for live game, I would assume they fall in nice projectile motions, making them far easier to hit. A bit like playing football with no goalkeeper.