Cat Microwave Question More Explicitly Stated

[Phil153]

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People that torture and kill innocent, living creatures for [censored] and giggles don't deserve to walk the earth and those creatures deserve to be saved from such treatment.

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Many feedlot pigs and cattle live horrible lives purely for the [censored] and giggles of people who enjoy the taste of meat on their tongue. Do those people deserve to walk the earth? Do the cows and pigs deserve to be saved from such treatment? Some of them suffer as badly as that microwaved cat, and spend much of their life in constant pain and discomfort.

I don't wish to turn this into that discussion, simply pointing out that this has very little to with the value of the animal and everything to do with punishing the torturer, who you see as evil. What if the torturer was abused as a kid, and lets his pain out on animals? Should he still be without a hand for the rest of his life?

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People that torture and kill innocent, living creatures for [censored] and giggles don't deserve to walk the earth and those creatures deserve to be saved from such treatment.

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BTW, have you ever seen cats play with a mouse or bird? They break its back or wings and then play with it, letting it hobble away and then pouncing on it while the creature is in agony. This can go on for half an hour. Cats are some of cruelest creatures around and putting them in a microwave is no different to what they do.

Should pet cats be allowed to walk the earth?

[einbert]

A kid that does this is very likely to end up being a violent criminal, the crime could be of a sexual nature. By cutting off his hand, I don't think you are really deterring that life although you might make it more difficult. I don't like not being able to save the cat, and I love animals. I think I look upon them more highly than most humans, and I think that every animal has a "soul" to the very same extent that a human does. But I have to admit that I weigh a human life, even a possibly destructive one, above the life of a cat. Maybe it's because I can more easily relate to the human condition than the feline one, and that's the only reason. I am sure based on his actions that the kid is in a lot of psychological turmoil right now, and through his life is going to experience a lot more probably including serious depression. I can't intervene in this situation and willingly cause that much damage to a human being. My hands are my connection to the world, they are the only way I have sex every day. Without them I would shrivel up or kill myself. Without even one of them I would be so traumatized. And I think I would be able to be a lot more optimistic in that situation than this obviously troubled kid. Think of the things he is going to do, and the pain he is going to feel. Compared to the cat, which at least hopefully will die and be done rather than having to continue to suffer these horrible things.

If the punishment were smaller, say the tip of a finger or to have all his fingernail and toenails removed, or to make him instantly bald for the rest of his life, I would do it. But I can't bring myself to remove this human being's hand. Even if it means the life of a cat. I would beat the hell out of him though or try at least.

[Homer]

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Many feedlot pigs and cattle live horrible lives purely for the [censored] and giggles of people who enjoy the taste of meat on their tongue. Do those people deserve to walk the earth? Do the cows and pigs deserve to be saved from such treatment? Some of them suffer as badly as that microwaved cat, and spend much of their life in constant pain and discomfort.

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That is quite a bit different than torturing an animal for the sake of torturing it. At least there is a method to the madness. The reason for doing it is to eat as opposed to nothing. There are certain cuts of meat I won't eat because of the way the animals are treated (such as veal), but I do eat plenty of meat, so perhaps I should be less quick to take a side in this argument. Still, I can't help but feel that what you are describing is much different than deciding to throw a cat in the microwave for no particular reason.

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What if the torturer was abused as a kid, and lets his pain out on animals? Should he still be without a hand for the rest of his life?

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This is a bit of a different situation than Sklansky presented in the initial post. However, my answer is still yes if it is the only way I can save the cat. If I could save the cat and force the torturer to get some help with his mental problems, I would do that instead.

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BTW, have you ever seen cats play with a mouse or bird? They break its back or wings and then play with it, letting it hobble away and then pouncing on it while the creature is in agony. This can go on for half an hour. Cats are some of cruelest creatures around and putting them in a microwave is no different to what they do.

Should pet cats be allowed to walk the earth?

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I suppose I would use the same argument as above, that the cat is killing the bird because it is carnivorous. However, I know that sometimes cats kill birds with no intention of eating them and toy with them while they are half dead. I guess I don't have an answer to that, other than that if I had a pet cat and it was doing that to a bird, I would take the cat indoors and put the bird out of its misery. I do think the cat deserves to walk the earth, as doing this sort of thing to birds is built into its genetic package, whereas with humans it is indicative of some sort of flaw in the brain. Cats don't have the intellectual capacity to think rationally about what they are doing. They are unable to think about what it would feel like if the roles were reversed and instead it was being toyed with. I suppose we could get into a philosophical argument about whether it's fair of me to make such a distinction between humans and cats, but I won't sidetrack this thread.

Thanks for the thought provoking post.

[SmokeyRidesAgain]

[censored] dude I'd do anything for some hot pussy.

[Trouthunter]

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If it's an innocent human, the cat fries. This is a non-innocent human, so save the cat and he can lose his hand.

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Which is the whole freakin point of the question. Does the fact that this person is killing a cat gleefullyand for no other benefit than to give him pleasure make him non-innocent?

I say the dude's hand goes.


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You missed my point - the way the question was worded, the guy was not innocent, so his hand goes. File it under the legal theory of "you reap what you sow". If the choice was, the cat gets fried or some innocent bystander randomly loses a hand, then the cat dies.

The answer to your question, though, is yes. The fact that this person is gleefully and for no other benefit than to give him pleasure does make him non-innocent.

[dogreplacer]

What the [censored] kind of a retarded question is this? Isn't the idea of philosophical questions to make you think? To tear you in two? Well how is this an agonizing decision? Here's one for you....A man just killed your dog, killed your sister, mutilated Scarlett Johannson's face, and is about to rape your mother, but if you stop him, he will have to have one ball hair plucked from his scrotum(nevermind how, but probably with tweezers).....WITHOUT ANESTHESIA....would you do it?????

[NL Rounder]

I would save the kitty and gleefully request the use of a hatchet.

[Shandrax]

This whole question is about values.

What is the value of a human hand and what is the value of a cat?

The next problem has something to do with "don't do to others what you don't want to be done to you".

We don't want to chop off someones hand, because we don't want anyone to chop off our hand.

Usually we don't run into problems, but we could get in such trouble in a country where they have different sets of values. If you steal $5 in New York you won't get your hand chopped off, if you do it in Saudia Arabia you will, because that's their punishment for theft. For them a hand is not even worth $5.

Now it is kinda obvious that cooking a cat in a microwave heater is outlawed everywhere, so nobody could ever hit on the idea that this is something he could get away with. But what about China? They eat cats and dogs there. What if a chinese guy wants to fix himself a quick cat dinner in the microwave? Cut his hand off, only because he doesn't understand our values?

And what about lobsters? Don't we throw lobsters into boiling water? Maybe I shouldn't say "we", because probably none of the 2+2ers has ever done it, but in restaurants they do. What makes the lobster different to a cat? I mean cats and lobsters are both food in China.

[JuntMonkey]

I'd save the cat, the guy is a [censored] punk and his hand can suck my dick.

If I could stop my car from being egged by chopping off the bastard's pinkies I would do so (assuming no legal or physical retaliation). The [censored] who threw water at the old people repeatedly can lose an arm.

[D.L.M.]

id hapily save the cat, and be the one to take his hand.