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Comment by j_4 | Hacker News Reader

A single hog being killed for 150000 kcal of sustenance is a lot more morally acceptable than 50 minks being killed for a single luxury coat. It's not cognitive dissonance to think this.

(numbers from quick, non-exhaustive googling)

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Google Snippet: To make one fur coat, it takes 150-300 chinchillas, 200-250 squirrels, 50-60 minks, or 15-40 foxes, depending on the animals' subspecies.

I don’t agree. Pigs are on the same cognitive level as dogs. Would it be morally acceptable to kill and eat a (big) dog for its 150000 calories after raising in terrible conditions for a few years?

I agree btw - but most pigs are killed after just 20 to 24 weeks - though yes breeding mothers are kept in terrible conditions for years.

> raising in terrible conditions

...source?

Farming doesn't have to be intensive. We get milk from a nearby farm. Given we mostly walk there the "food miles" would be precisely zero.

Not intensive farming is less bad than intensive farming but in your example, a cow still needs to have a calf and that calf slaughtered for milk to keep coming. And that cow will be killed off the moment it stops making enough milk which is a fraction of its natural life span. It’s not like not intensive farming is innocent either.

And for shit and giggles, check what’s the proportion of industrially farmed meat vs non intensive that’s sold every day.

> Farming doesn't have to be intensive. We get milk from a nearby farm. Given we mostly walk there the "food miles" would be precisely zero.

Sure, that is nice but in no way representative.

More than 99% of produced hogs do live in horrific conditions. The fact that you know of a happy hog doesn't relate to the vast majority of hogs.

I don't see why it matters if it's a dog or a pig. But to answer your question: it depends on a lot of factors, if you really want to go down the morality rabbit hole.

I guess I'll say it's less morally acceptable to slaughter a dog for food that's kept in terrible conditions than one that's kept in good conditions.

It seems to be becoming less acceptable in one of the few places to actually do that.

Kinda my point. Why are dogs not ok but pigs no problem.

For reference, a pig is 3-10 dogs, more if you're talking about the smallest dogs.

Does the cognitive sophistication of the animals (their ability to feel emotions, form long term memories, etc) factor into that? Pigs are highly sophisticated. Minks probably less so.

I’d suggest you’d have to factor the perceived sophistication of the species as much as the direct benefits for the homo sapiens facing the moral dilemma (you).

Dogs, pigs, cows, are good examples with varying cultural responses.

So... “depends on who you ask”.

Have a Whale more calories than a person?

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