But death should
be inflicted as painlessly as possible; no humane man will prolong
the suffering of the humblest creature for the sake of "sport" or take
pleasure in the killing. We must say with Cowper "I would not enter
on my list of friends, (Though graced with polished manners and fine
sense, Yet wanting sensibility) the man Who needlessly sets foot upon
a worm."
This does not necessarily imply that we may not rear and kill animals
for food. When properly slaughtered, they suffer inappreciably-no
more, and probably less, than they would otherwise suffer before death;
the fear of the hunted animal is not present, and there is no danger
of leaving mate and offspring to suffer. Indeed, the animals that are
bred for food would not have their chance to live at all but for serving
that end; and their existence is ordinarily, without doubt, of some
positive balance of worth to them. Certainly the rearing of cattle
and sheep and chickens adds appreciably to the picturesqueness and
richness of human life; and if dieticians are to be believed, their
food value could hardly be replaced by substitutes.
The question of vivisection is not a difficult one. Certainly
experimentation on living animals should be sharply controlled,
anesthetics should be used whenever possible, and the needless
repetition of operations for illustrative purposes should be forbidden.
But it is far better for the general good that necessary
experimentation should be performed upon animals than upon human
beings; not at all as a partisan judgment, to shift suffering from
ourselves to others, which would be unjustifiable, but because animals
are less sensitive to pain, and unable to foresee and fear it as human
beings would.
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