A Conversation for Are We too Sentimental about Animals?
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yes we are
Juliet Posted Apr 1, 2001
the operative word here is "knowingly". A lot of animals have evolved toavoid contaminating their food or water. However, with all our knowledge we still put our waste in our drinking water...
yes we are
wide_inside Posted Apr 5, 2001
So are we knowinly putting e-coli into the water supply?
wide
no we're not
Shorn Canary ~^~^~ sign the petition to save the albatrosses Posted Apr 9, 2001
Most animals will leave their waste where they can. Some species are fussier than others. Some humans are fussier than others. Some humans have no choice but to contaminate their water supply. Think about refugee camps, concentration camps, favelas, over-crowded squalid conditions in some cities. Other animals don't normally put themselves into such unhealthy situations but humans put themselves and other animals into situations where they cannot avoid being "dirty".
which humans
Juliet Posted Apr 9, 2001
do not pollute their water supply?
Apart from the Pacific Islanders maybe?
which humans
Shorn Canary ~^~^~ sign the petition to save the albatrosses Posted Apr 9, 2001
Oh, um. Hello Juliet. I clicked the "this posting" text on your post 28 and it appears to be addressed to me. If it is addressed to me, I'm not sure what you're asking me. Sorry. Could you be a little bit more specific ..... if it's me you're addressing the Qs to. 
If it's addressed to wide inside, sorry to have interrupted.
which humans
Juliet Posted Apr 9, 2001
Hi Shorn - it was mainly addressed to you. You said something about "some humans are forced to..." I was wondering which humans DIDN'T put their waste into their drinking water...I know we do here. We have to treat it before we drink it, of course.
which humans
Shorn Canary ~^~^~ sign the petition to save the albatrosses Posted Apr 9, 2001
Ah! Fair point. You're absolutely right. I was just making the point that we do what we have no choice but to do. I was trying to balance what wide was saying about how horrible cows are, with what we do. If you fence them in and they have only one or two places where they can drink, then obviously they're going to make a mess there. Humans do the same when they're confined to a small area in large numbers. There's no great difference between our behaviour and the behaviour of the poor old cows under those conditions.
which humans
Fragilis - h2g2 Cured My Tabular Obsession Posted Apr 9, 2001
Well, there is one difference. Cows don't react by putting stuff like chlorine in the common water supply which might be more harmful to other animals than to themselves...
which humans
Juliet Posted Apr 9, 2001
ok - agreed. Which brings me back to the point I made earlier. It's not a case of being too sentimental about animals, as if they are something separate. We are they. All animals have common behaviour.
Key: Complain about this post
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yes we are
- 21: wide_inside (Apr 1, 2001)
- 22: Juliet (Apr 1, 2001)
- 23: wide_inside (Apr 5, 2001)
- 24: Juliet (Apr 5, 2001)
- 25: wide_inside (Apr 5, 2001)
- 26: Juliet (Apr 9, 2001)
- 27: Shorn Canary ~^~^~ sign the petition to save the albatrosses (Apr 9, 2001)
- 28: Juliet (Apr 9, 2001)
- 29: Shorn Canary ~^~^~ sign the petition to save the albatrosses (Apr 9, 2001)
- 30: Juliet (Apr 9, 2001)
- 31: Shorn Canary ~^~^~ sign the petition to save the albatrosses (Apr 9, 2001)
- 32: Fragilis - h2g2 Cured My Tabular Obsession (Apr 9, 2001)
- 33: Juliet (Apr 9, 2001)
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