As I related briefly elsewhere, my housemate has snakes whom he feeds live rats. I understand that snakes need to eat too and that they are going to either need to feed on rodents, birds, or some other small creature. This is inevitable and I can accept that. However, what I can't accept is the mistreatment of intelligent beings such as rats (but really any being at all) in the process of feeding them alive to another animal! That being said, frozen rats aren't much of a better option because the practical (sadistic) snake shops throw the rats and mice alive into the freezers. It reminds me of Auschwitz. So, if the animal is going to be alive (can't they be drugged first?) at the very least have the decency not to hurt it beforehand. (But really, I think rats are a no-go anyway because of their intelligence and character so it's a moot point). And yet hurt them is exactly what he does! He literally throws the rats into the snake's feeding box. I have seen him, with everyone watching excitedly, DUMP tiny baby rats into the box from a height of over at least one or two feet. That's like a human being dropped from a 2 or 2 story building! I know it breaks their bones and they must be hurting terribly. What's worse, you can hear the rats (especially the babies) squealing in agony and fear when these vicious snakes attack them. It's particularly disgusting that one of the snakes is a bad hunter (referring to its species I mean) and kills its prey by injecting flesh-dissolving venom into its face. I mean what the @@$%^%? How can anyone subject an innocent being to something like that? I rescued one of the babies one time that was not eaten, I suppose because the snake was full, but it was injured and at any rate I was drunk and didn't take proper care of it during the night. So by the morning, despite my efforts to keep it warm, it was dead. That's a death that will rest on my conscience forever.
I feel like this is damaging my soul because while this abuse is going on I am sitting there and doing nothing. But, I don't know what to do about it because the guy doesn't listen to reason and none of the other fools who hang out with us seem to get it either. I don't know what's wrong with the conscience of our country! It's a real shame because in other respects he is a great guy and I like hanging out with him. But I just can't accept this kind of callous behavior.
What to do?
A caveat about killing animals: When I complained to my housemates and others watching the executions, the retort came back (as it always does) that I eat meat and am a hypocrite. Well, I am not vegetarian, I LOVE meat! I am well aware of the industrial barbarity of the mega-farming meat industry. It's sick beyond words. However, the problem is, I found that almost nobody else gives a rat's ass (no pun intended!). When I first discovered the truth about the industry when I was in college I made propaganda posters and plastered them to the dinning halls. I told everyone I knew about it. I stopped eating meat for something like two months unless I knew it was from a humane farm. But in the end I realized that not eating meat was making me very unhappy and that there was nothing I could do about the industry because other people simply lacked the sufficient moral compass to join me. I am not talking about vegetarians and vegans who have an issue with ANY animal-killing. I am talking about understanding that it's wrong to make animals suffer in a barbaric fashion and treat them like insensate objects. So, my issue with the rat feeding is not about killing, and I am not a hypocrite. I put my money where my mouth is but if I am stuck then I am not going to be unhappy because of the actions of others. That's the sick sad truth about the world: with many wrongs (industrial meat, industrial fishing, fossil fuels) you are pretty @@%^d and either you get what you can or you be unhappy.
I feel like this is damaging my soul because while this abuse is going on I am sitting there and doing nothing. But, I don't know what to do about it because the guy doesn't listen to reason and none of the other fools who hang out with us seem to get it either. I don't know what's wrong with the conscience of our country! It's a real shame because in other respects he is a great guy and I like hanging out with him. But I just can't accept this kind of callous behavior.
What to do?
A caveat about killing animals: When I complained to my housemates and others watching the executions, the retort came back (as it always does) that I eat meat and am a hypocrite. Well, I am not vegetarian, I LOVE meat! I am well aware of the industrial barbarity of the mega-farming meat industry. It's sick beyond words. However, the problem is, I found that almost nobody else gives a rat's ass (no pun intended!). When I first discovered the truth about the industry when I was in college I made propaganda posters and plastered them to the dinning halls. I told everyone I knew about it. I stopped eating meat for something like two months unless I knew it was from a humane farm. But in the end I realized that not eating meat was making me very unhappy and that there was nothing I could do about the industry because other people simply lacked the sufficient moral compass to join me. I am not talking about vegetarians and vegans who have an issue with ANY animal-killing. I am talking about understanding that it's wrong to make animals suffer in a barbaric fashion and treat them like insensate objects. So, my issue with the rat feeding is not about killing, and I am not a hypocrite. I put my money where my mouth is but if I am stuck then I am not going to be unhappy because of the actions of others. That's the sick sad truth about the world: with many wrongs (industrial meat, industrial fishing, fossil fuels) you are pretty @@%^d and either you get what you can or you be unhappy.