When is killing consistent with vegan ethics?
None of us will ever be stranded on a desert island with nothing but animals to eat. Hopefully none of us will have to use deadly force against dangerous animals. But sometimes things aren't so clear cut and it's hard to behave as if human life and animal life are truly of equal value.
I'll often find ticks on me after mountain biking. If I'm still outdoors when I pull it off of me I'll just toss it aside and leave it to it's fate, but more often I'll find them while showering off. Theoretically I could toss it aside inside my home, but I don't want it to latch back on to me or my cats. I could step out of the shower and toss it out my front door (while trying not to expose myself to the neighbors!). But instead I flush them down the toilet. On one hand I'm defending myself against a parasite that could potentially infect me with a serious disease. On the other hand, if I killed a human, when I didn't absolutely have to, for creating a tiny puncture in my skin that would be wrong.
Mosquitoes are a similar case. Is it wrong to squash these annoying disease vectors? Is it wrong to poison them with DEET?
How about biting flies? They don't carry diseases (as far as I know) but their bites can be painful, and simply shooing them away just results in them landing on you elsewhere a few seconds later.
The other day I found ants in my kitchen. I'll coexist with spiders...or capture and release the ones too creepy to ignore...but no way am I going to have ants marching all over my kitchen. I sealed off their entrance and killed the ones already inside.
If all animal life is of equal value, or worthy of equal consideration, as human life, then these actions are wrong. Does that make my behavior unethical, or is there a way to resolve these actions with vegan ethics?
None of us will ever be stranded on a desert island with nothing but animals to eat. Hopefully none of us will have to use deadly force against dangerous animals. But sometimes things aren't so clear cut and it's hard to behave as if human life and animal life are truly of equal value.
I'll often find ticks on me after mountain biking. If I'm still outdoors when I pull it off of me I'll just toss it aside and leave it to it's fate, but more often I'll find them while showering off. Theoretically I could toss it aside inside my home, but I don't want it to latch back on to me or my cats. I could step out of the shower and toss it out my front door (while trying not to expose myself to the neighbors!). But instead I flush them down the toilet. On one hand I'm defending myself against a parasite that could potentially infect me with a serious disease. On the other hand, if I killed a human, when I didn't absolutely have to, for creating a tiny puncture in my skin that would be wrong.
Mosquitoes are a similar case. Is it wrong to squash these annoying disease vectors? Is it wrong to poison them with DEET?
How about biting flies? They don't carry diseases (as far as I know) but their bites can be painful, and simply shooing them away just results in them landing on you elsewhere a few seconds later.
The other day I found ants in my kitchen. I'll coexist with spiders...or capture and release the ones too creepy to ignore...but no way am I going to have ants marching all over my kitchen. I sealed off their entrance and killed the ones already inside.
If all animal life is of equal value, or worthy of equal consideration, as human life, then these actions are wrong. Does that make my behavior unethical, or is there a way to resolve these actions with vegan ethics?