Ethics question: the relative worth of different types of animals

On Sat, 25 Aug 2007 18:02:42 -0700, Bobo Bonobo® wrote:

Just for example, how many more times is a cow worth than an
earthworm?
Would killing one cow be worse than killing a hundred earthworms? A
thousand earthworms?

There's more to think about than just the "death" of the cow,
since it can't be killed unless it first has life. We can just consider
the deaths of wildlife like worms, which are not deliberately raised
to be killed, but since livestock are deliberately raised to be killed
we must give their lives as much or more consideration than their
deaths. So would raising and killing a cow be worse than killing
a bunch of earthworms?

· From the life and death of a thousand pound grass raised
steer and whatever he happens to kill during his life, people
get over 500 pounds of human consumable meat...that's well
over 500 servings of meat. From a grass raised dairy cow people
get thousands of dairy servings. Due to the influence of farm
machinery, and *icides, and in the case of rice the flooding and
draining of fields, one serving of soy or rice based product is
likely to involve more animal deaths than hundreds of servings
derived from grass raised animals. Grass raised animal products
contribute to fewer wildlife deaths, better wildlife habitat, and
better lives for livestock than soy or rice products. ·

Here we see plowing:
http://tinyurl.com/8fmxe

and here harrowing:
http://tinyurl.com/zqr2v

both of which kill animals by crushing, mutilation, suffocation,
and exposing them to predators. We can see that planting
kills in similar ways:
http://tinyurl.com/k6sku

and death from herbicides and pesticides needs to be
kept in mind:
http://tinyurl.com/ew2j5

Harvesting kills of course by crushing and mutilation, and
it also removes the surviving animals' food, and it exposes
them to predators:
http://tinyurl.com/otp5l

In the case of rice there's additional killing as well caused
by flooding:
http://tinyurl.com/qhqx3

and later by draining and destroying the environment which
developed as the result of the flooding:
http://tinyurl.com/rc9m3

Cattle eating grass rarely if ever cause anywhere near
as much suffering and death. ·
http://tinyurl.com/q7whm

In vegetarian ethics, do earthworms have any value, relative to
mammals?

Ingrid Newkirk:
Six million people died in concentration camps, but six billion broiler chickens
will die this year in slaughterhouses.
- The Washington Post, 11/13/83

There’s no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights. A
rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. They’re all animals.
- Washingtonian magazine, 8/1/86

This is not a troll post. I'm x-posting it to alt.punk, which I read
regularly, and where there are quite a few vegetarians.

--Bryan

· Vegans contribute to the deaths of animals by their use of
wood and paper products, electricity, roads and all types of
buildings, their own diet, etc... just as everyone else does.
What they try to avoid are products which provide life
(and death) for farm animals, but even then they would have
to avoid the following items containing animal by-products
in order to be successful:

Tires, Paper, Upholstery, Floor waxes, Glass, Water
Filters, Rubber, Fertilizer, Antifreeze, Ceramics, Insecticides,
Insulation, Linoleum, Plastic, Textiles, Blood factors, Collagen,
Heparin, Insulin, Solvents, Biodegradable Detergents, Herbicides,
Gelatin Capsules, Adhesive Tape, Laminated Wood Products,
Plywood, Paneling, Wallpaper and Wallpaper Paste, Cellophane
Wrap and Tape, Abrasives, Steel Ball Bearings

The meat industry provides life for the animals that it
slaughters, and the animals live and die as a result of it
as animals do in other habitats. They also depend on it for
their lives as animals do in other habitats. If people consume
animal products from animals they think are raised in decent
ways, they will be promoting life for more such animals in the
future. People who want to contribute to decent lives for
livestock with their lifestyle must do it by being conscientious
consumers of animal products, because they can not do it by
being vegan. ·