this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2025
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Especially one's where an animal is not specifically killed for that product.
You pose an interesting, yet potentially controversial question. I'm like waste not, want not. People are gonna eat meat, whether you think that's ethical or not. So, why waste the hides?
I grew up in a town filled with hunters, though I wasn't exactly much of a hunter myself. Though I did go out with them a couple times around age 13, and we killed, cooked and ate a couple rabbits.
What my elders taught me, is if you hunt, don't do it for sport, you better eat what you kill. And if at all possible, don't let anything go to waste.
And that's about when I was taught to preserve animal hide with borax and dry curing.
Personally I feel like hunting is a lot better than just buying meat at a grocery store or whatever. If you hunt in a way that respects the death of the animal and doesn't waste anything then you at least are much more connected to what consuming meat actually entails. A big reason I became vegan in the first place was because I fished a few times growing up, and came to the conclusion that I didn't like it because it felt cruel. Eventually I realized that if I wasn't even willing to fish because I felt bad about it, why is consuming animal products any more acceptable to me?
I still could never bring myself to hunt, and I do 100% take issue with hunting for sport where it doesn't respect the life of the animal. But if you hunt just what you need, and use everything you can from the animal, then at least you feel the gravity that the act of taking a life should cause you to feel imo.
I think that's a rational way of approaching it, I guess it's hard to understand the ethics of it for big brands and how their leather is supplied for instance. I assume most cows are killed primarily for their meat but I am unsure.
Following your life of thought I see nothing wrong with freeganism. I feel plantbased caused me to be almost religiously anti-animal products early on but I agree with not wanting to waste.
Indeed, our local hunters weren't a big brand set to breeding animals for slaughter.
May I ask you a question in return?
Back when I was only 7, my parents owned a horse named Sissy. She was a free range horse that had a whole ~40 acres of land to roam around and graze on.
She was fully grown and as sweet and as gentle as could be. Anyone could ride her even without a saddle or bridle, at a slow gentle trot. She really was the best horse ever!
But one day, bad weather came through. Apparently Sissy decided to try to take shelter under a pine tree (she did have proper shelter in the middle of the property though, but she didn't go there).
Anyways, very sadly, lightning struck the tree she was under, killing her and the tree she was under. ☹️😭💀
Their procedure at the time, if a horse died, was to chain them to the tractor and haul them to what they called "Bone Hill"...
I was only 7 at the time, so I was sad, but had no thoughts or say so on anything, so off to Bone Hill she went.
Now I'm 42 years old, and in hindsight, I still wonder to this day, would it have been reasonably ethical to instead call up a number of hunter neighbors to go ahead and cut her up and stock everyone's freezers?
Not like she died of disease ya know, nor by human hands. Looking back, seems like wasted meat to me.
I'm sorry to bring up a sad story like that, but it's bothered me ever since, what really would have been the better idea, rather than hauling her carcass to Bone Hill just to rot..?
I’m on my phone so I will try to respond best I can.
Thank you for asking me this moral question and sharing this personal story.
First of all you were 7 so you hold zero responsibility to this.
Secondly, I’m not sure putting a beloved animal to rest versus eating it has a moral choice. If they died by natural causes I think both are fine. Would we ask the same question about a house pet like a cat though? I personally do not think I could bring myself to eat a loved house just because it died. I also grew up with animals and your question hits home. For my pets I have buried them versus put them on the bone hill but I also don’t know how many labor hours would go into burying a horse. I assume that would be a lot.
As someone who thinks not wasting and freeganism is a good choice but not mandatory, I think eating anything unexpired that would otherwise be thrown away or roadkill is morally okay to consume. So I think eating the horse would have been morally okay but I don’t think putting it to rest is wrong in anyway.
I frequently eat vegetarian food left over from my immediately family that they would not eat otherwise but even know I slightly feel weird about consuming most meats even if it will be wasted otherwise.
So I personally think there is nothing for you too feel bad about. I do think it’s a very sad story though. I know how it feels to lose a family pet and I’m sure such a horse with such a good temperament must have lived a good happy life :)
I hope I treated your story with the proper respect needed!
Thank you for your thoughtfulness and understanding.
Honestly I'm shedding tears over it right now, it's been a long time since I even thought of that tragic situation.
And hell no I nor my family would have ever considered eating Mr. Whiskers nor Rover, that really hits way too close to home!
But a horse, killed by lightning? That's had me wondering about the ethics in the back of my mind every now and then ever since.
Anyways, let's not think any more depressing thoughts, I'm gonna pet our adopted dog Brownie, think happy thoughts, and hope everyone tries their best to have a good new year.
Edit: Brownie...
https://lemmy.world/post/22326822
I can imagine how you feel. It is that the horse sought shelter and got hurt that makes you feel sad the most?
What do you think is/was the right thing to do? If something like that happened today what would you do.
Aw! Very cute :) thanks for sharing
Back then, there weren't much of any strict laws, and the Bone Hill I mentioned, yeah, over the previous two decades the occasional dead horse or cow would be hauled up there, just to rot, no burial or anything. They basically let the vultures and worms do the work from there..
Bone Hill was well away from anyone's home, including ours, so nobody in the neighborhood seemed to care. It was just 'normal' life for me back then at times. Today, I wouldn't have a damn clue what to do with a dead horse, I guess call animal control for advice..?
I haven't lived there in like 30 years, now I stay in an apartment and we're lucky just to be able to have adopted Brownie.
He's a really good boy, especially to be an adopted stray that someone dropped off at our city park last March or April or so. He's extremely well behaved, and perfectly house trained!
I wish I could ask Brownie what his history is, what his original name was, etc...
Regardless, we're glad to have him with us, sad that someone dumped him off. He's got a forever home here!
Quick question..
What breed do you think Brownie is? Understandable if you're not sure. The vet listed him as a Dachshund, but I believe he's actually a Doxle..
https://dogtime.com/dog-breeds/doxle
I really don’t know dog breeds but from briefly looking at photos I think you may be right. Based on the torso and the nose.