Accidental animal crueltyI once invented a brilliant game - I'd sit at the top of the stairs and throw cat biscuits to the bottom. My cat would eat them, then I'd shake the box, and he would run up the stairs for more biscuits. Then - of course - I'd throw a biscuit back down to the bottom. I kept this going for about half an hour, amused at my little game, and all was fine until the cat vomited. I felt absolutely dreadful.
Have you accidentally been cruel to an animal?
This question has been revived from way, way, way back on the b3ta messageboard when it was all fields round here.
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rob, Thu 6 Dec 2007, 11:13)
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I have a pet giant African land snail.It's exceptionally hard to be cruel to them, as if there's no food around they just retreat into their shells and hibernate until there is. I've gone on holiday for four weeks and come back to find Snaily* happily sealed inside his** home, coaxed him out with a bit of warm water, fed him and off he slid, apparently happy as Larry. It's kind of hard to tell a snail's emotional state, except when you feed them beer and they get pissed. Their eyes go in different directions and they slide sideways. Really, they do.
Anyway, my sister was also looking after some of Snaily's relatives - cousins or something, we haven't been that anal about maintaining a family tree - and neglected them in a similar manner. She came back to find two "dead" snails in the tank, and as she's a bit squeamish about that kind of thing, instructed her boyfriend to dispose of them. Gallant fellow that he is, he chucked them up the garden. A few weeks later my mom was telling her about her own snails (yeah, we all have them) and their hibernatory habits when the terrible truth dawned. The boyfriend was dispatched to retrieve the poor bastards - no easy task, considering he'd just lobbed them wherever - but miraculously both were found and having survived the inclement British weather on top of everything else, were restored to health in the fullness of time. She's now learned her lesson and is even caring for Snaily while I'm off travelling.
The other thing about keeping snails is that unless you keep them in isolation (as I do) they tend to breed and lay huge numbers of eggs that look like little polystyrene balls. Sister again is quite squeamish about what to do with them and consequently has a large number of snails by this point. My mom, on the other hand, just scoops them out of the tank and feeds them to her fish. Not sure if that counts as cruelty...abortion, perhaps?
* imaginative name, no?
** I'm perfectly aware that snails are hermaphrodites, but usually refer to it as a male due to the dearth of hermaphroditic pronouns in the English language...
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emvee cruor deo cruoris, Fri 7 Dec 2007, 16:43,
1 reply)
SnailsI have about twenty GALS, and when they lay eggs, I scoop them out and put them in the freezer. The fish food idea is good though, part of the food chain. Glad you got your two snailies back though. :)
Larx
(, Sat 8 Dec 2007, 19:12, closed)
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