It is crazy bad to teach a kid of 6 to shoot an animal for fun

Please click on this link to see the image. It has to be on another page where there are no advertisers as they might object. Sorry. The link opens another tab so you stay on this page.

A tweet on the above image by MoS and which I agree with:

"I don't care what anyone says, THIS IS child abuse. At that age the children should be taught about life and the wonders of nature, including the many species of wildlife. Many parents thrust their love of killing animals onto their offspring teaching them life is worthless!!!!"

Many parents such as the one in the image teach their children that animals are NOT sentient creatures able to feel pain. This kid does not know that he has caused a massive amount of pain and distress. It is an aspect of sport hunting which is never discussed by the shooters. For the child it is target practise. It is fun. There is no price to pay; no downside. It is a game. The dad is to blame.

How is humanity to become more civilised and improve animal welfare which is a hallmark of civilisation? How we treat the more vulnerable than us is a measure of our moral code and civility.

This father is educating his child to become like him: an unthinking brute when it comes to his relationship with animals.

Animal welfare is about education; what you put in the minds of the kids. They are the future of animal welfare. Good education invariably improves animal welfare in general.

The more one reads on animal sentience and animal abuse the more you realise that human ignorance is the foundation of animal cruelty.

What about fishing? People see fish as nuts and bolts; non-animate creatures. Wrong. They feel pain. Just an example.

Hunting traditions are throwbacks to the ancient past; hundreds if not thousands of years ago when hunting was necessary to survive.

When hunters say it is their culture based in old, well-established traditions to hunt they are admitting that their minds are rooted in a past when humankind was far more ignorant. That defence for sporting hunting is an admission of ignorance.

These sorts of traditions need to be put in the garbage bin asap. It is not just about the pain caused. Conservation is massive these days as humankind presides over the mass extinction of animal species.

And what about that good old-fashioned word 'compassion'. I guess it is not in dad's vocabulary.

Is there much worse than teaching kids to torment baby animals? Goat tying is cruel.

I am referring to that human entertainment - at the expense of animal welfare - called 'goat tying'. It is an acceptable form of animal abuse and has become normal. This is bad.

The tweet:

Is there much worse than teaching kids to torment baby animals? The goats used in #GoatTying are less than a year old & less than 60 pounds & can be tormented by up to 5 contestants in a row until they are switched out for another victim: https://bit.ly/43ftoXl

The accompanying picture disturbs

So, what is "goat tying"? Right away, to me, it sounds unpleasant at least. Let's remind ourselves that this is a form of human entertainment at the expense of goat welfare. Does that sound right to you?

Goat tying is a rodeo event. It's a sort of competition. The competitor rides to a tethered goat, dismounts, catches, throws and ties any three of its legs together. The goat stays tied for six seconds after the contestant has backed away. No score is awarded if the goat becomes untied before the six seconds has elapsed.

Goat tying is cruel. Image: MikeB

The competitor may be disqualified if they are too rough on the goat (so they are too rough on goats sometimes!). Goat tying is typically done by girls in high school and at college rodeos. And by both girls and boys a junior and youth rodeos.

My conclusion is that this human pastime teaches children animal cruelty. And if it doesn't teach them animal cruelty it teaches them that animals can be used and abused for their entertainment.

This is exactly the kind of thing that PETA detests. And it is the kind of thing that I detest as well. Our children are the future of animal welfare. We need to teach them the highest standards of animal welfare in order to make advancements in animal welfare across the world.

How are we going to achieve this if we teach kids the wrong things? Look at the picture. Does that goat look happy and contented? Or does he or she look abused, confused and anxious?

Goats are sentient creatures. They form relationships with people and other animals. They are sweet animals. They can become pets and often do. Goat tying is essentially cruel and abusive. It must stop.

Why do people abandon their cats? Lots of reasons!

Rescued Ragdoll cats. These cats were voluntarily relinquished by the person who bred them or who is breeding them. Photo: MSPCA.

There are many reasons why people abandon their pets. In descending order of importance, I have listed 10 below the spreadsheet. There are actually at least 3,207 reasons (😢) to relinquish your cat according to a study by the Regional Shelter Relinquishment Survey (Salman and others in 1998). Here are the top 41 reasons. Below that list are the reasons that I thought of before I discovered the 3,207 reasons!

Here are my reasons which came to my head fairly quickly.

1. Moving home. It sounds frivolous and careless but it is apparently true. People for whatever reason do not want to take their animals with them sometimes. I suppose the classic reasons are that the new home does not permit pets or is too small (leasehold contract). The downsizing may have been forced on the person for economic reasons. However, often the true reasons are not disclosed. Indeed, the person may even deceive himself.
2. A second reason for abandoning a pet is that the person adopted the companion animal when he or she was a cub or kitten and then is surprised (overwhelmed) at how large the animal has become when adult. This problem applies to dogs.
3. Purely economic reasons - the owner can't afford to keep a companion animal. This may be because of misplaced expectations or dire financial circumstances beyond the control of the person.  You will probably find, though, that the car stays as will the iPhone and the $100 a month telephone bill!
4. Another reason is that the companion animal was bought as a present and the person receiving the present becomes disinterested after a while. This may happen when parents give a child a kitten as a present. If the child gives up caring for the cat, the parents take over and then they give up later.
5. Expectations about maintenance and costs can be misplaced and when reality clicks in the owner gives up and abandons the cat or dog. This can be avoided by reflection and careful objective consideration before adopting.
6. For cats, so called "behavior problems" are a big reason for abandonment. These "problems" are often human expectation problems because the cat behavior is normal cat behavior and their owner does not like it. Once again it is about expectations and education before adopting. Should education be obligatory before people acquire a pet? If it was, you would need licensing. This is one of those moot questions. There is a need for better cat ownership to minimise the creation of feral cats.
7. Inappropriate elimination (urinating outside the litter tray) is a potential reason for abandonment. The reasons behind this behavior might be found in the environment that the person has created (too stressful for example) and nearly always will be or the cause is medical. Inappropriate elimination is appropriate for the cat because the simply react naturally and instinctively to forces beyond their control.
8. Another and controversial reason why people abandon their cats is declawing. Declawing a cat can result in behavior problems such as being unable to use litter trays as it hurts too much. This can lead to relinquishing the cat to a shelter.
9. Sometimes people become too old, frail of sick to continue caring for a cat or cats.
10. Rarely cat hoarders have a light bulb moment and realise that they can't cope and seek help. This as mentioned is mightily rare.

Click this link for Elisa Black-Taylor's thoughts on this topic.

RELATED: 3207 Reasons To Relinquish Your Cat.