Is it cruel to tag animals?
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HungryForCereal
if it was you I'd never want to leave...
umm yeah? they have an object pinned to their body against their will. how is that not cruel?
Yeah, I think so. I might need to do more research before I have a solid opinion in case there is something I don't know about, but there's gotta be better ways to mark the animals that don't involve hurting them against their will, y'know? Like collars or something.
Wild animals are "tagged" to track them, this is super useful as it allows specialists to be aware of populations, locations, breeding etc. of certain animals, specially endangered ones, it's extremely valuable to the study and conservation of animals.
On the whole, tagging animals doesn't do a great deal of harm to most species, just catch them, tag them quickly, and let them go. Most don't even realise they're tagged, and just go about their lives as they did before. Specially now that they're developing less invasive ways of doing so. However, there are negative aspects of it, some animals don't respond well and go into shock, the tags also have a negative affect on certain animals, like king penguins, of which tagged penguins have a 16% less chance of survival in the wild.
To me personally, it's a really hard topic and isn't as simple as cruel or not. Humans have caused the majority of problems that animals in the wild face (climate change, deforestation, etc.) so, if we left them alone in the first place, they wouldn't be going extinct as quickly as they are, and we wouldn't need to tag them for conservation reasons. However, now that we've done this, surely we have a duty to fix our mistakes as much as we can and try and up the survival of animals, even if that causes short pain or discomfort to a few? Maybe it's not completely humane, but is it worth it in the long run? I don't know.
On the whole, tagging animals doesn't do a great deal of harm to most species, just catch them, tag them quickly, and let them go. Most don't even realise they're tagged, and just go about their lives as they did before. Specially now that they're developing less invasive ways of doing so. However, there are negative aspects of it, some animals don't respond well and go into shock, the tags also have a negative affect on certain animals, like king penguins, of which tagged penguins have a 16% less chance of survival in the wild.
To me personally, it's a really hard topic and isn't as simple as cruel or not. Humans have caused the majority of problems that animals in the wild face (climate change, deforestation, etc.) so, if we left them alone in the first place, they wouldn't be going extinct as quickly as they are, and we wouldn't need to tag them for conservation reasons. However, now that we've done this, surely we have a duty to fix our mistakes as much as we can and try and up the survival of animals, even if that causes short pain or discomfort to a few? Maybe it's not completely humane, but is it worth it in the long run? I don't know.
Nightmares
(￣。￣)～ｚｚｚ
If it's for research purposes on animals, then I think it's ok
PrincessAurora
Senior Member
I don't think it's cruel if it's something like an ear tag. It's no different than a human getting an ear piercing, correct? I don't really know much about it though.
but wouldn't it be cruel to pierce a humans ear without their permission? (eg. a babies ear?) to me that's what makes it debatable, rather than the pain. But yes, pain-wise it isn't usually a significant amount of pain.
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It's not cruel in my opinion. People get shots for medicine at the doctor's office. That's not cruel. And the tag isn't trying to harm them anyways, it's for studies and to keep track of them to keep them safe. Most of the time, animals don't even realize the tag.
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Animals aren't self-conscious like humans though. They don't call each other ugly or fashionable for having a tag.
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Animals aren't self-conscious like humans though. They don't call each other ugly or fashionable for having a tag.
PrincessAurora
Senior Member
I was just thinking in terms of pain. I don't agree with piercing a baby's ear since they grow up and actually notice and care about that stuff. Animals probably don't care.
Wisteria Rytsar
Senior Member
I Just Wanna Say I Got My Ears Pierced As A Baby and Now Looking Back I Kind Of Wish I Hadnt. I Dont Wear Earrings Anymore And Really It Makes Me Look Strange Because Now Everyone Asks Why I Dont Wear Earrings. I Have Decided To Get Another Piercing In The Cartilage But Thats Just Because Thats the Only Style I Really Like. Not The Lobe Piercing Which Was What I Got
I get what you're saying, but that's not really my point, my point is that you're still doing something against their will, whether or not they are aware of it. Say an older person is no longer "self-conscious", self-aware or able to give permission, as many animals will not be, would it be alright to pierce their ear without permission?
That's just the moral aspect that makes me question if things like this are really "right" but as I said in my first reply, it's for conservation, basically to clean up our messes, fix the harm we've done to animals, so I understand why we do it, and it's probably better in the long run. I'm not completely against it or calling it "cruel" I just wish we never had to do this in the first place, if we'd never interfered with animals and killed them/destroyed their habitats, but it's too late for that now, so tagging a few animals is probably the next best thing.
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Exactly, not only that, but it's cruel to inflict pain on someone without their permission (human or otherwise?), specially a baby or small child. However, this is a separate discussion and kind of off-topic.
Wisteria Rytsar
Senior Member
It Was Just A Statement. And If You Want To Quote Me Will You Quote The Whole Thing? Its Not Right To Cut Out Parts Of My Words.
Oh sorry, I know it was just a statement, that's cool. I just didn't want to reply to it more as i'd be taking the discussion off-topic. I just quoted that part as it was the part I was responding to, I wasn't trying to "cut out your words" or make it look like you said something else, sorry if I came across rude or something.
AnimalCrossingPerson
Please respect GDPR
I thought you meant tagging dogs (which is mandatory in many circumstances) and whatnot to prevent strays etc. so voted no, lol.
Do babies' remember their first shots? Surely I and many other people do not remember the first shots. I think many people here were born when they still gave circular vaccine shots. I was born in Taiwan, and the thing used to do to babies was give them circular shots that stay there forever. It isn't pain inflicting really, I can't remember what it felt like. Because although harming a baby is bad, they usually don't remember it. And can babies really tell you to pierce their ear or to not? Sorry, that just seemed kind of ridiculous to even think about it. And many of my friends had their ear pierced way before they could remember, and it's very easy to just take the earring out and let the hole close. Sorry, it's just the topic of a baby "forcefully" getting an ear piercing doesn't make much sense to me.
Anyways, I accidentally pressed yes. Oops. I didn't read the topic correctly. I think animals getting tags really isn't that bad. Cows, for instance, each one gets a tag on its ear. They don't really react to it, maybe mooing a couple times before going back to whatever they were doing. Animals don't really realize the tag. Don't some facilities tranquilize the animal first? I'm not so sure about that, I just heard it somewhere. But I don't think it's cruel to tag an animal. We're finding easier ways to tag animals now, with a better outcome, so it isn't truly cruel. I also don't think comparing an animal to a human is a good way to put any friendly argument here, because humans are not animals.
Wisteria Rytsar
Senior Member
Its Alrighty. I Just Felt Super Uncomfortable Seeing That. And To Makeup For My Off Topic Discussion I'll Input My Opinion
I Voted Yes Because If I Don't Believe That This Is They Way We Should Be Trying To "Help" The Animals. I Understand That Tracking Them And All That Stuff Is Important But Just The Tags Themselves Are To Me Are Rather Invasive. It Doesn't Matter To Me Whether Or Not The Tags "Supposedly" Don't Affect Their Return To their Habitat. To Me The Problem Is That This Tag Is Actually On Them With Them Having Absolutely No Say Whatsoever. You Don't Think they Have A Will Of Their Own? Every Living Being Does. While Sure They May Or May Not Care It Is Still Important To Respect Any Beings Will. Honestly I Would Prefer If We Humans Left Them Alone Because The World Was Fine Before We Started To Mess With Every Aspect Of It And Manipulate It In The Ways We See Best
Technically Humans Are Animals. We Just Are Self Aware And Just Have Tried To Separate Ourselves From The Other Creatures In The World
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Humans are animals.
I'm not going to reply to the ear piercing thing anymore after this because as I said, it is wrong to inflict pain on someone without their permission, but ear piercing is different to tagging or shots as they have a purpose whereas ear piercing doesn't have a purpose other than how it looks, and that's worse in my opinion. So it's not cruel to really hurt a baby just because you like the look of ear piercings? (I never once mentioned "force" although you usually will have to forcefully hold a baby or young child to pierce their ears as they will react negatively to the pain). It's not about weather they'll remember it or not, it's that (again) inflicting pain on someone without their permission is, in my opinion, morally wrong (specially if there's no reason for it, shots are different.
I compared humans to other animals because people will relate to other humans pain whereas they will belittle non-human animals pain as they can't relate to it, I tried to put it in a more relateable way. I don't think that tagging animals is truly cruel either.
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jakeypride
Senior Member
Honestly the only animals I'd agree with tagging would be sharks. It's good to keep track of how close to shore they are getting.
