Hi Jonno,
I'm here. I hadn't checked this thread until just now. As usual with cat threads, it's the rational people trying to reason with the irrational cat lovers, which is impossible, which is why I now avoid these threads.
Cats are bad. I'm not even going to bother backing that statement up as it isn't necessary. People say things like "There are worse things than cats, so we shouldn't worry about them", which as was pointed out, is as absurd as saying "There are worse things than rape, it shouldn't be a crime".
The other argument is that because humans brought cats here, it's our fault, not theirs, and we should leave them alone and let them do their thing (wipe out countless animals, etc). Well, it's not the countless native animals' fault that the cats are here either and we have a responsibility to them. Saying that because something is our fault and the solution is to punish ourselves, rather than solve the problem is utter idiocy, but you get it a lot from the cat lovers. In any case, it is our duty to make sure we don't make things worse, so there is no excuse to let your cat outside.
...of course, this is all utterly irrelevant to the purpose of the thread...
Is it okay to feed a cat to a snake? Duh. I don't recall god or any other divine entity declaring which animals were higher than others. I have spent my whole life studying biology, but I can't recall ever coming across the characteristics which animals must posess to make them ethically okay to be eaten. Some people love cats, true. Some people love rats, some people love pigs, some people love cockroaches and keep them as pets. Most people hate snakes, many people eat snakes, that's fine too, as long as they aren't wiping the species out or being cruel. Does it bother me when people eat snakes? Yes, I must admit it does, but that's my problem, I must accept that and not try to impose my irrational feelings upon others. If people are cruel or kill endangered animals, I will likely have something to say about it.
To Hindus, cows are sacred. To many people, killing a cow is as bad or worse than killing a person. There was talk of India going to war over the issue of the slaughter of the cows with that whole mad cow disease thing a few years ago... that shows how emotional and irrational people can get over this issue.
An animal doesn't understand whether it is being raised for food or to be a pet. If I told my cockroaches every day that they were going to be loved forever, I don't think they'd feel any worse when my lizards ate them. I don't think it would make them feel any better if I spent every day telling them that their lives were going to be cut short at some stage. If people want to have their irrational feelings and avoid using 'pet raised' animals to feed their snakes, that's their business, but they shouldn't impose that type of nonsense on anyone else or try to make them feel guilty about it.
I spent about two years working full time with grasshoppers, and during that time I became very fond of them. I found it extremely distressing when people fed grasshoppers to their lizards and frogs, I would not use them for my own animals, but I also would not allow myself to make anyone else feel guilty because of my own feelings on the issue - that was my problem and no one else's. In the same way, people who love any other type of animal need to understand that if others are not acting in an unethical way, they should be allowed to go about their business.
Unless someone wants to invite god to my house and have him give me a list of animals which can and can't be given to snakes, I won't take anyone seriously if they have a problem with someone else feeding a humanely killed, legally obtained and killed, non-threatened animal for food.
Incidentally, cats are absolutely delicious!
(Yeah, I know, if I'd actually managed to convince anyone to change their mind, I've just undone it! :lol: We chose our side; rational or emotional, and rarely does anyone change)
