They kill them for fertilizer? Isn't that like using diamonds as fish tank rocks?

That is just obscene. Unbelievably disgusting.

Yes, I eat chicken and beef, but a chicken or a cow is not intelligent. Dolphins are. That makes for a big difference.

Yep, totally disgraceful

Well, the big difference is the plain fact that chickens and Cows are domesticated and can reproduce easier because of modern breeding techniques.

Dolphins are different.

Exactly my feelings!

I'm not sentimental about people killing for food because I'm a realist but what gets under my skin is a) lack of respect for the animals you eat, b) mis-treating animals before they are killed for food , c) killing animals for no good reason.

Which is why all the meat I buy and eat is free-range and I make sure as a family we don't waste meat and only eat it as a supplement to our diet as I personally believe that meat has become a kind of throw away commodity that people in general have lost respect for[/end rant]

Okay. But where do you draw the line? A dog probably falls somewhere between a cow and a dolphin in intelligence. Some people eat dogs but you the thought of that is probably appalling. Pigs are extremely intelligent animals, probably falling somewhere around the level of a dog. So should we not eat pigs because they are intelligent as well?

I am not justifying the slaughter of dolphins at all. I am also opposed to the mass slaughter of livestock animals. I am just pointing out that your argument is a bit of a slippery slope.

Excellent point!

You are of course, completely correct.

The line I would draw is the degree of intelligence. Dolphins are one of the most intelligent species on the planet.

Of course we don't know how intelligent they are.
It is still a slippery slope as you pointed out because where is that line? If a dolphin is too intelligent, than what about an animal who is 99% as intelligent as a dolphin. 90%? 80%, etc etc.

How much smarter is a dolphin than a pig? I am assuming that the dolphin is vastly more intelligent, but I just don't know.

Yes it is a slippery slope.

Self-awareness might make for a good line to draw. Those creatures who are not self-aware can be eaten, those who are can't.

The problem there is defining and labeling "self-awareness". As difficult and controversial as animal intelligence is, animal self-awareness is even more difficult.

I read this yesterday on a new site but couldn't post it, it's just too horrible.

Ok, so it's a tradition, but it's a STUPID, VILE, tradition now that we've learned so much about dolphins. Traditions are revisable, they're not carved in stone, they're not genetic.

Cows and chickens are smart, too.

I raised my own beef, from a bottle to the table.

I totally agree. Just because your ancestors slaughter thousands of dolphins every year doesn't mean you have to too. I'm sure that there are many other sources of food in the sea. I just think that it is immoral to herd an animal into a corner then slaughter it

That's true. Everybody thinks cows are dumb, but they can be really smart.

On a side note, they're also more agile than you would think. I've seen younger cows jump sideways out of pens before...

I don't really know much about chickens, except that they're kind of hard to catch haha...

Me too, several times! High five.

And hey, if they were that smart, don't you think they'd avoid being caught?

joke, relax