- 30 Apr 2007
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Intelligence of the animal or fish to me still doesn't make a difference to me. Heck even cockroaches are intelligent enough to run or, in the case of here in Okinawa, fly away when someone swings a rolled newspaper at them.
I think a part of the problem that goes beyond the issue of how intelligent the "whatever" that is being killed is the literally bloody manner with which is was or is done. Something about the blood in my opinion that bothers people, that along with I guess the "intelligence" of the "whatever".
It's not just the blood alone, its the knowledge that the animal is suffering needlessly. The blood is a visual indicator which may strengthen emotional response but its the whole thing, the blood, the contorted bodies, the violent shaking etc. all together, combined with the knowledge that dolphins are highly intelligent creatures who are aware of themselves and each other.
Let's say they took cockroaches, herded them into a corner and stabbed them with little pins so they lay there dying. It's needless and a little silly but it just doesn't evoke the same response. It's just as horrible in principal some would argue, but its still not the same. Why is this? Cockroaches can't make sense of their own suffering, they don't know who their parents are, they don't have a complex social structure (that we know of), their brain capacity is simply nowhere near that of a sentient creature.
Now on the other end of the spectrum of 'animals' or 'things humans kill', lets look at primates. Gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, etc. These are highly intelligent creatures with complex social structures, communicative ability, emotions, etc. As a point of interest, some Chimpanzees raised in captivity are capable of communicating to their caregivers using American sign language and are also interestingly enough capable of lying, artistic expression and caring for pets such as cats. (All documented and factual). Highly intelligent.
By contrast, some humans are incapable of reading, artistic expression, and so on. Some who are severely mentally challenged are incapable of even caring for themselves independently.
Now, before you call me insane I'm not putting dolphins on par with humans, gorillas on par with the mentally challenged, or anything like that. I am saying though that 'intelligence' is a competely conventional and relative term thats not set in stone. While I wouldn't belittle a mentally challenged person out of sheer respect and kindness, I would definitely bestow the title of 'intelligent' on any creature that exhibited certain advanced characteristics.
My point is that intelligence can be relative and just because we're a little higher than everything else on the food chain it doesn't mean whats happening farther down isn't real. When dealing with highly intelligent creatures (which is a gray area but we can definitely say dolphins and whales are part of this group) the suffering they endure can be just as bad as the suffering of a human relatively speaking. The emotion, the pain, etc. They don't just get confused, run around for a bit and then die like a cockroach. They aren't just big dumb fish. The more advanced the animal, the more pain and suffering it endures, and the more upset people get when they see this because its alarmingly close to the same emotional response thats evoked when a human is visibly suffering.
Anyway I'm not arguing, I'm just trying to articulate a position that I feel is legitmately based in science despite it often being labelled as radicalism. In short, I'm not a supporter of PETA, but I know where some of them are coming from.