5 ms·
The mousetrap table disturbs me. They've got a right to make and sell it, but I won't buy or condone it. That's because it causes too much pain on the animal's
by maxharris 16y ago
The mousetrap table disturbs me. They've got a right to make and sell it, but I won't buy or condone it. That's because it causes too much pain on the animal's part, with not enough gain on the human's. Just look at another, more detailed picture of the design: http://dvice.com/archives/2009/02/mousetrap-table.php http://dvice.com/archives/2009/02/mousetrap-table.php Clearly, this thing goes beyond a sensible mousetrap, which is something that acts quickly and is not designed to celebrate death.
Before you start to think that I'm some kind of nutty animal rights/eco person, I should say this: animal research makes human life better (by making us more knowledgeable about all kinds of things, from neurophysiology to pharmaceuticals to cosmetics), and they usually get anesthesia while we're doing it. I'm all for that. Likewise, eating (large, edible) animals is awesome because they taste good, improving the human gain enough to justify killing them.
But powering furniture with mice? It's legal (and must remain so, or we lose the legal right to use animals for the aformentioned proper uses), but not ethical.
- burgerbrain 16y agoEh, I can't imagine it's much worse than those sticky-traps. At least with this you're not just throwing the corpse away though.
- thret 16y agoIt seems to me that putting the death of an animal or insect on display, as entertainment, is also unethical. I don't like the idea of people cheering for the guillotine.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- maxharris 16y agoI gave you a point, but I don't have a problem with being nasty to insects.
- khafra 16y agoWhat do you think of people who keep pitcher plants in their homes? The larger ones trap cockroaches, small lizards, and even mice in a slippery sap, slowly digesting them over the course of days.
- maxharris 16y agoI draw the line at mice. They're mammals.
- khafra 16y agoBut the pitcher plant does not draw the line. If there are mice in your house (or outside, if it's tropical enough that the pitcher plant can survive outside) a large enough pitcher plant will eat them. If you maintain that a pitcher plant owner has a moral responsibility to prune back the plant before it gets large enough to eat mice, that's consistent and defensible; I was just curious if the different perspective from a table would bring a different conclusion.