Depends on how you define sentience

Part of a line from a recent letter in the Fence Post: “The least we can do for sentient animals ...”

This letter was written by one who believes that “The culling or killing of animals that overpopulate is never acceptable. It does not matter if we’re referring to deer, coyotes, opossums, skunks, feral cats and even rats.”

I noticed that the writer didn’t mention humans, but I digress from my original thought.

Getting back to that first sentence, one only needs to visit the definition of “sentient” to know that insects and, yes, vegetation/vegetables, are sentient, too. So, I guess it’s not OK to kill malaria-bearing mosquitoes, nor is it right to live as a vegan. I guess we’re going to have to get by on purely inorganic stuff: gravel, sand, etc., and flush it down with hopefully pure distilled water.

Look, if you’re interested in living as a vegan, fine. Just don’t endlessly proselytize about it, OK? And try to be more consistent, or at least find another reason to follow that lifestyle.

It is likely that virtually everything alive is “sentient” to some level, so please pick another buzzword. Or do vegans believe that they are the last word on what is, or isn’t, sentient, or worse, what is sentient “enough?” Sounds a bit judgmental to me.

John Babush

Big Rock