Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/10/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]It even comes down to, is it ethical to feed small mammals to snakes in the zoo? There is a sense that animals lower on the evolutionary ladder should provide food to those higher on the ladder, but the reverse is not true. It seems ironic to some that crocs eat zebras and boas eat monkeys. Everyone has to die of something. I asked a group of freshmen once (as a writing assignment) if the use of white rats in research should be discontinued. Surprisingly, many said that they should discontinue use of white rats or they would become extinct. Ironically, they would become extinct IF we stopped using them as lab animals. Jeffery - -----Original Message----- From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Jacques Bilinski & Barbara Bradbury Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2003 3:04 PM To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: Re: [Leica] something something and now animals > It is an opening into the broader debate of what consciousness and > intelligence are. Should other "lesser" organisms be sacrificed to > marginally improve our life span* (and looks)? Are we the only holders > of these attributes we like to call human? The fact that once you > acknowledge that other organisms may also be sentient makes it > difficult to draw a definite line in the sand does not mean we should > ignore the issue outright. > Yes, these are very complex ethical issues, with many grey areas. What about human tissue in animals, research with human embrionic cells, etc, etc? Simply denying drugs to those whose grandmothers donated money to animal rights groups seems grossly simplistic to me. - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html