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But you can't assume that animals are not intelligent either. You can't really prove empathy or sentience... even in other human beings. You just have to assume based on similarities. Isn't it better to err on the side of caution and assume they are sentient beings that we just don't understand? Alternately, the mirror test does allegedly prove that they don't think of animals they see the same way as themselves, but neither do we. Human beings objectify other animals and other humans all the time. Our entire society is based off of self interest for crying out loud. While I don't think it amounts to cruelty, I do agree with onetime2 that I think all animals can recognize sound & associate that with action. I'll take it a step further and say that I think they understand that they are killing another being and that that being is pry not thrilled about it. However, one thing I have noticed in my study of various animals is that animals have a certain dignity in dying that is absent in the human race. No matter how animals die they seem to be always ready for death and recognize it as a part of life. I don't think it is cruel to kill for food. What is cruel to kill an animal and not make use of it. Or to raise an animal just to be slaughtered. Or to inject an animal with chemicals and hormones to make them better eating.
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"The courts that first rode the warhorse of virtual representation into battle on the res judicata front invested their steed with near-magical properties." ~27 F.3d 751
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