If whales were near as intelligent as human beings, one would expect that after more than 100 years of whaling, they would learn to keep clear of Icelands and Norways territorial waters. And it is not as if they currently will swim quickly away from boats when approached, so I find it hard to accept that they are somehow genius animals like Sea Shepherd would have us think. All animals are social, and sentient, and most mammals are at least to some degree intelligent. For an animal, sure, of course they are a bit more so, but not much different than other animals we currently eat under not much criticism from SS. Pigs are quite intelligent, cows are probably somewhat intelligent, every animal welfare article I see talks about how every animal is too sentient and intelligent to eat, so it must be understood that whales are not very different from these animals. If you believe whale meat to be somehow immoral, I can accept that as your personal preference. I admit I am a bit uncomfortable with eating, for example, dog meat. I probably wouldnt go out of my way to eat it, but other people do so in other countries. There is no rational reason to oppose eating a given meat while eating another, so I will never try to impose my personal preference on another culture. Leave us alone, Sea Shepherd, you plant-murdering butchers.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 04:17:43 +0000