With all due respect,
If i have blood or any circulatory system , regardless of how much evolved i am no different from human in regards to torture and feelings.

Having said all that i am just as guilty ! :redface:
Because i keep fish in a glass box and I eat sushi.
What i am trying to say is that we have to evolve and change our ways.

The difference is we have a choice , your cat did not.

Believe it or not, even we humans do not have this choice sometimes and they are often made for us, for better or worse. I agree that we sometimes have to change our way of thinking but not all decisions that we make on the behalf of others are bad decisions.

We don't give birth to children and then throw them out into the world to fend for themselves. We make a lot of decisions for them for a long time. It is up to us to decide what those decisions are. Hopefully they are the right ones but it is ultimately up to us to decide that. Whenever we choose to care for something the same applies. What it eats, what medicines it takes or doesn't take, what surgeries it needs or doesn't need, etc. We must often make these decisions on their behalf, again, trusting that it is the right decision.

I would have to agree that often nowadays humans have taken their freedoms away as well. Way too often in my opinion.

Oh well... philosophy... good bad ... The wise once say, there is no good or bad , only learning the lessons.:wink:

how can you tell that we are both passionate about this subject??? :lol:

That is very sad and cruel! I can't believe people can eat the poor fish while it is still alive and leave it there in front of them, while they are eating his body in front of him. I've seen plenty of vids like this and they just seem so wrong. =(

Wow!
The only thing that you,ve mentioned here that has no purpose is ear docking. This practice is being frowned on by many breeders now.
All of the stuff you've mentioned are(now days) done by people who are animal physicians. Maybe you've heard of them? In most cases the procedures that you mention are done to increase the pets quality of life They don't remove dew claws, dock tails, spay and let them run around while they giggle like little school girls. Killing animals for food is something that we do, but when we remove the flesh off of a living thing and then watch it squirm, swim or wiggle while we eat it...... That makes us animals. There is no plus to doing this. The fish, frog or invertabrate doesn't get any fresher. It won't taste any better than if you had just killed it. If the amount of suffering is proportional to the quality of the meal, there's serious issues that have nothing to do with food and everything to do with old world thinking and a lack of understanding.
Nothing is gained by watching a living creature suffer.

If any of you know me personally or just from facebook, you know my dogs hit the jackpot when they ended up with me. Yes, my rotties tail is docked. It was done when she was a day old. Yes, she is spayed and I made some hard choices in going through with it. However, it was best for her in the end, and there were no puppies. My dogs get the best of everything, from human grade food I prepare for them and they are my business partners.

It is not always best for all animals, but to say pet owners are cruel is out of line. I love my dogs more then anything else in this universe, and it shows in how they behave themselves and how we interact.

Aggree with you Diana!

I also believe that tail docking serve a purpose. To prevent injuries, have you ever seen a rottie with a broken tail ? I have....not pretty at all.

They docked tails when they used to pull carts back in the old days. It is not needed now of course, but at such a young age, I don't really think it is all that bad. I think circumcising baby boys would be more painful. The ear cropping seems like quite and ordeal, but if it is done by a qualified vet, I am not going to judge. I know people cut pit bull's ear off with scissors, which is really not at all cool.

I know people can be horrible to animals but not all pet owners are cruel and have their animal's best interest at heart.

I used to feel a lot of remorse when I looked at all my fish in the tank. I really did not know what happened to them until after I got into the hobby. All I can say is that my fish are fat and healthy and don't seem to hate tank life. All of them come eat out of my hands and follow from side to side of the seven foot wide tank. I don't feel bad for them at all. They have a wonderful home. If I could do this hobby all over again, I probably would not, but they are here now, and they will be loved and cared for to the best of my abilities.