I had to kill a rat that my cat had caught (yes, a rat -- not a mouse, but a genuine rat with a foot-long tail). She had broken three of its legs, and popped one of its eyeballs, and left it, either as a present or as a snack for later.
It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, even though it was suffering (and quite likely disease-ridden). I didn't kill it on the first whack with the shovel either -- I was too weak from the difficulty of bringing myself to actually swing the shovel against a living creature -- so all I did was break several more of its bones. That made me feel even worse.
The other three whacks to the head must've finished it off, though; I didn't have the heart (or the stomach) to open the plastic bag to see, but it had stopped moving. I buried it, still inside the bag, next to where I buried the bird she had killed on my bedroom floor.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried afterward. Violence in games is one thing, but actually killing a living thing -- one with a brain, capable of decision-making and learning -- was next to impossible for me.
The very worst thing was, when I pushed it with the broom into the dustpan, it stopped struggling. I looked it in the good eye it had left and it looked back at me; it was very scared, but it had no ability to run.
I've never looked anything in the eye with the intention of killing it, even though the reason was to end its pain. It really hurt.
ID:192724
 May 22 2002, 8:19 pm
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May 22 2002, 10:14 pm
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Lesbian Assassin
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Stories like this make me glad my cat is agoraphobic. I probably wouldn't have been able to do more than put the rat outside, where it would die slowly or attract scavengers, even knowing that would be worse than killing it quickly.
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I'm a total hypocrite when it comes to animals. If it's something that's cute and generally accepted as a pet in this culture, then I'm a big softy. I LOVE those kinds of animals.
If it's something wretched and filty and carrying diseases (like a rat) then it's toast. And I have no qualms about it either. My irrational fear of vermin knows no bounds. Humane mouse traps? Nope... I want it dead so it doesn't come back into my house. If it's something that will ultimately be sitting in front of me as a blue plate special... I might be squeamish about doing the killing, but I'd do it (and I have). No need to make myself even MORE of a hypocrite. Regards, Corporate Dog PS: Of course when it comes right down to TORTURING an animal for no good reason, that's just sick no matter WHAT KIND of animal it is. | |
I commend you on your bravery. It takes a strong person to do what you had to do.
BTW, you live in the wrong province. Move to Alberta, there are NO rats here. Really. Its one of the few(only?) rat free places in the world. Someone wanna call me on that? | |
I am much the same. I have no problems killing 'possums and racoons in my garage, but killing chickens and pigs is harder to watch or do. Killing fish is a little easier, but it still gets a little disgusting after awhile. I would never kill a cat or dog or hamster unless it was attacking me. I probably should't touch here, but I do own a vaccuum chamber and there are a lot of worms around my yard...
In any case, I hope that this first experience will help you to become more comfortable protecting yourself and your loved ones from wild animals. Don't feel too bad; it did not really know what pain was. It just knew that things were not as they should be. That is what research has found, so try to take comfort in it. -Lord of Water | |
ThreeFingerPete wrote:
I commend you on your bravery. It takes a strong person to do what you had to do. Vancouver has rats, but my old town of Logan Lake (in the Columbia Mountains) was rat-free, as far as I knew. One of the cleanest water supplies in Canada, too. Moving to Alberta doesn't seem like the most appealing thing to me, since I still love my mountains -- of course, I could always move to Banff or something like that. Not having a PST is a definite plus, too. =) (All of our doctors want to move to Alberta too. I don't really blame them, but there's a point where they should look at themselves and say, "Am I really upholding the Hippocratic Oath?" By moving away from our already taxed health care system -- which, as Elorien delightfully puts it, "What health care?" -- are they not indirectly allowing someone to die? (Of course, a quick search on the Oath just reveals that the Oath only swears not to directly kill someone, which is probably what Kervorkian tried to get away with (though it also says you won't give deadly medicine to anyone).) | |
I'd like to see this research... was it perhaps performed by the American Branding Council or the Society for the Continuation of Puppy Strangling? Not that I'm large on animal rights or anything, but that's just stupid. Doesn't know what pain is? Pain isn't knowledge, it's a sensation. Pain is the sensation that our body uses to communicate not-rightness to us... to an animal, with no knowledge of what pain is or why its being felt, intense pain is not only painful but no doubt terrifying.
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I guess its all good to have that feeling and whatnot. But I know I wont. Maybe if I had to kill my dog, I would do it... but I wouldn't be happy. I won't cry over it. The only thing I will feel sad for is....burrying the dog. Its just too much work. First I gotta kill the dog, and NOW I gotta go bury it!?
I don't know why you would cry... Well, I do know why...but it seems...well....I don't want to get this into a big flame war | |
Spuzzum wrote:
I had to kill a rat that my cat had caught (yes, a rat -- not a mouse, but a genuine rat with a foot-long tail). She had broken three of its legs, and popped one of its eyeballs, and left it, either as a present or as a snack for later. Thats a rat, you killed, imagine what i felt when i killed a person in a street fight=/ | |
I eat rats whole because i am a biatch also i am a sheep shagga i rape monkey fetususes gooooooood ha ha ha ha noone can stop me now come on Foomer my gay bitch you know how i like it!
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Gojira wrote:
Thats a rat, you killed, imagine what i felt when i killed a person in a street fight=/ You killed a person in a street fight? Just how old are you? | |
well almost 17 but i do martial arts and my dojo has street fights. This one got alittle out of hand, BUT i got away with it because of the other Dojo admitting to have using weapons such as knives.
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Gojira wrote:
well almost 17 but i do martial arts and my dojo has street fights. This one got alittle out of hand, BUT i got away with it because of the other Dojo admitting to have using weapons such as knives. What kind of self-respecting dojo has street fights? What did that other guys parents say when thier kid didn't go home that night? | |
SonVeggitto wrote:
I eat rats whole because i am a biatch also i am a sheep shagga i rape monkey fetususes gooooooood ha ha ha ha noone can stop me now come on Foomer my gay bitch you know how i like it!# you immature piece of crap! why do you intend on getting Ken? Think anyone is dumb enough to fall for your 1 letter additions in his key? | |
Man I hate people like this kid, I have almost everyone on my pager bitching at me because this stupid kid has a known gay sexual preference and talks dirt about foomer and other members of BYOND, Im thinking about toasting this kid's computer. Anyone with me?
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Sariat wrote:
Gojira wrote: Actually we are a dojo and we have street fights with other dojos. We dont have any arenas and we dislike non contact martial arts. Well i dont really know what the other guys parents said when their kid didn't come home that night. BUT he went for me with a know i manage to grab is arm break it and thrust the knive into him. Now if the other dojo was fair like the all the others had fought in an organised manner then it would not have happened. | |