Killing a horse is not murder!

Casey76 said:
Because "murder" is an emotive word. It has certain connotations associated with it (violent, harrowing, undignified etc).

The killing of livestock, be it for whatever reason, is not murder. You can call it "slaughter" or "destruction" if you want to use emotive terminology; though "culling" would probably be more correct.
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Personally slaughter is more emotive to me than murder. Even in news the word slaughter trumps murder.
 
perhaps murder was the wrong word to use, but to me a life is a life, and to even consider euthanasia as a method of solving an issue of an unwanted foal before all other avenues have been investigated is a bit shocking. In all honesty it's not so much the pts of the foal but the poor mares grief that upsets me
 
Rhodders said:
perhaps murder was the wrong word to use, but to me a life is a life, and to even consider euthanasia as a method of solving an issue of an unwanted foal before all other avenues have been investigated is a bit shocking. In all honesty it's not so much the pts of the foal but the poor mares grief that upsets me
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If "a life is a life" to you, does that mean you never eat meat or dairy products, or use leather goods? Or for that matter kill insects or parasites? I'll bet you discriminate between which lives it's morally okay to take. ;)

But I still think the OP's point is about language, not morals. :)
 
Rhodders said:
perhaps murder was the wrong word to use, but to me a life is a life, and to even consider euthanasia as a method of solving an issue of an unwanted foal before all other avenues have been investigated is a bit shocking. In all honesty it's not so much the pts of the foal but the poor mares grief that upsets me
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I absolutely take your point about the mare's grief, but the reality is that as far as the foal goes, saving one unwanted foal just means that another one somewhere else will be going to an abattoir.
 
cptrayes said:
I absolutely take your point about the mare's grief, but the reality is that as far as the foal goes, saving one unwanted foal just means that another one somewhere else will be going to an abattoir.
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If it's lucky...which most aren't because some doo gooder "rescues" it for a tenner at the sales. There are far far worse fates than death.
 
The mares grief having a foal pts would be no more than having a stillborn, providing the mare is allowed to see the body and determine that the foal is dead.
 
cptrayes said:
I absolutely take your point about the mare's grief, but the reality is that as far as the foal goes, saving one unwanted foal just means that another one somewhere else will be going to an abattoir.
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Sad but true:( going back to subject your not a murderer if you choose to have a horse pts for whatever reason, people might not like it but you cant go round calling them murderers its crazy.
 
Legally , killing a horse - not PTS I hasten to add but killing, much like the poor horse who was (allegedly) shot by the livery owner, is criminal damage so it's certainly not murder in the eyes of the law.
 
FionaM12 said:
If "a life is a life" to you, does that mean you never eat meat or dairy products, or use leather goods? Or for that matter kill insects or parasites? I'll bet you discriminate between which lives it's morally okay to take. ;)

But I still think the OP's point is about language, not morals. :)
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grow up. I just don't think because I'm human I have more rights than anyone else and I would never squish a bug, why would I, what would give me the right to do that.
 
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Pinkvboots said:
Sad but true:( going back to subject your not a murderer if you choose to have a horse pts for whatever reason, people might not like it but you cant go round calling them murderers its crazy.
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Of course it's crazy - of course horses, dogs, cats etc need to get pts all the time, this was originally a post having a dig at me because I used the wrong word to describe having a not yet born foal pts because it was a bogof and not wanted
 
Rhodders said:
Of course it's crazy - of course horses, dogs, cats etc need to get pts all the time, this was originally a post having a dig at me because I used the wrong word to describe having a not yet born foal pts because it was a bogof and not wanted
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It's not "crazy" because animals need to be pts. It's crazy because even if they were cruelly and illegally killed, murder is the wrong word....
 
Rhodders, I was making a perfectly sensible, polite and mature point. But I give up. Never mind, at least your response gave me a laugh. :D
 
FionaM12 said:
It's not "crazy" because animals need to be pts. It's crazy because even if they were cruelly and illegally killed, murder is the wrong word....
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yee gods everyones getting the wrong end of the stick, I give up, of course I agree with putting a suffering animal to sleep
 
Rhodders said:
grow up. I just don't think because I'm human I have more rights than anyone else and I would never squish a bug, why would I, what would give me the right to do that.
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Rhodders said:
yee gods everyones getting the wrong end of the stick, I give up, of course I agree with putting a suffering animal to sleep
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Soooo, if a mosquito bit you you'd be more likely to have yourself put to sleep as the suffering animal than trying to squish the mosquito in case it bit you again?
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
whilst not a cheerful thought, the OP in the original post was IMO right to consider PTS an option as she could not guarantee the foal a quality of life for a long period of time.

with un known breeding and lack of facilities stacked against it, the little mite had a low chance of finding a long term loving home in a world where even well bred and pro produced youngsters are going for a pittance.

there are worse fates than a clean quick death and some people need to wake up and grow up.
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I'm sorry but I'm with PS on this one, I feel the same about dogs too. Whether we like it or not there are thousands of unwanted animals in this country, most of them end up in terrible homes - what is worse to you, a quick painless death or years of suffering and abuse...? I can see the point of people breeding top class competition horses, or working dogs that will have a purpose, but the average, low end foals that are out there face an uncertain future - most go to the meat man.
 
I don't necessarily agree that language is so fixed and rigid - yes, there are dictionary definitions of every word but do we always use them in the correct manner? No, because we are not perfect and many of us are a tad prone to over dramatisation. For example, having had the unpleasant experience of watching x-factor the other week, I definitely was of the view that some of the contestants "murdered" their chosen song and my yardowner who suffers from bad knees has on more than one occassion announced that they are "murdering" her. How often have we stated that we are "freezing"or "starving"? But are we really? Clearly an incorrect use of the term on each occassion, but quite a common habit. And whilst I believe that to be forgivable in the context of non emotive or fairly "irrelevant" subjects, I think purposefully using incorrect terminology in the context of emotive subjects where the intention of doing so is purely to make the recipient feel guilt/shame is not so forgivable.
 
I think there is a risk of arrogance and pomposity creeping into this thread that I am finding a little uncomfortable. I love words. I love the sound of them and the feel of them and their ability to express a meaning or a motive or a sentiment or a scene and to do so with eloquence and economy. I just like words!

I hope, though, that my love of words and my desire to use them correctly and creatively doesn`t cause another to feel in any way inferior or foolish even if their choice of word is incorrect. Let`s encourage each other to embrace the loveliness of language and through example demonstrate the appropriateness of words or phrases to present a rational argument in such a way that no-one feels belittled or humiliated. Jus` sayin`. :)

Please form an orderly queue to point out my mistakes! ;)
 
This thread is in my eye a form of bullying. Taking one persons comment and making an entire scene is a disgrace, and it is being continued on in silly remarks to the person. Think about how you are acting.
 
Possibly a silly question, but what would those who say it's not murder, call it? Personally, I don't call it murder, I usually say euthanised, but was just wondering what the "correct" term would be?
 
equi said:
This thread is in my eye a form of bullying. Taking one persons comment and making an entire scene is a disgrace, and it is being continued on in silly remarks to the person. Think about how you are acting.
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Actually, I`m inclined to agree with you equi - and unfortunately I speak with some authority on the whole distasteful and distressing issue of bullying.
 
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