The bird seemed happy enough to be safe and recovering, and happy enough to be out again once it was released, but I think it did end up being eaten by the cat once it was back in the real world.
It’s probably better just to kill it.
No! That meme feels terribly wrong to me, tho I have not worked out entirely why. It’s probably a combination of the implication that you should kill someone who is being tortured, even if you had a chance of rescuing them, and the effects on your personality of killing something you have empathy for.
I’ve heard that murder only gets easier. I don’t think I want that.
EDIT:
They’ll probably just euthanize it anyway. But yes, it can make you feel good if you don’t know or think about what’ll end up happening.
Good point. I actually don’t know what I would do for a larger injured animal. Helping it may be better than calling the death-squad. If there were a chance that it could live.
When I received a briefing from an Air Force pilot, he talked about how he “applied kinetic force” to “prosecute the target” rather than “shot missiles” to “kill people”. I immediately noticed how useful that sort of language would be for psychological health when performing such actions.
This was long before the use of “kinetic military action” to describe our little war in Libya.
It’s worth putting an appropriately strong word on death.
An appropriately strong word on the death of an already mauled sparrow? Euthanize is already giving the matter sombre dignity. It’s a step up from ‘squilch’.
The bird seemed happy enough to be safe and recovering, and happy enough to be out again once it was released, but I think it did end up being eaten by the cat once it was back in the real world.
No! That meme feels terribly wrong to me, tho I have not worked out entirely why. It’s probably a combination of the implication that you should kill someone who is being tortured, even if you had a chance of rescuing them, and the effects on your personality of killing something you have empathy for.
I’ve heard that murder only gets easier. I don’t think I want that.
EDIT:
Good point. I actually don’t know what I would do for a larger injured animal. Helping it may be better than calling the death-squad. If there were a chance that it could live.
“Euthanize” sounds slightly better.
I agree let’s euphemise them.
It’s worth putting an appropriately strong word on death.
When I received a briefing from an Air Force pilot, he talked about how he “applied kinetic force” to “prosecute the target” rather than “shot missiles” to “kill people”. I immediately noticed how useful that sort of language would be for psychological health when performing such actions.
This was long before the use of “kinetic military action” to describe our little war in Libya.
An appropriately strong word on the death of an already mauled sparrow? Euthanize is already giving the matter sombre dignity. It’s a step up from ‘squilch’.
To clarify, it was not mauled. It was missing feathers, and had some cuts, but no bones broken or mortal wounds.