Im a vegan but yet i have a venus fly trap. I was asked the other day about this and couldn't give an answer? I go out of my way to put bugs back outdoors if they bug me(haha) and won't kill them. And if the plant needs help ill feed it half decent dead bugs i found on the window sill because i need to take care of it. I think its ok but other people wonder how i can own a carnivorous plant and be a veggie? What are your thoughts on this? I guess its the same issue as feeding dogs and cats meat when your a veggie?
that plant would die if not fed and u dont want to loose a species so id say ...feed it dead bugs...it dosent eat that much does it
i'd say it sucks having people not understand vegetarianism and then try to run their "logic" on you. I don't think you're doing anything wrong by feeding that plant. peace brother
I love it when omnis try to make vegetarians look bad by pointing out very little things, even when they perform the same actions themselves. I feed my dogs canned dog food made from cows. I don't buy procter and gamble though, but still, these are dead animals that I'm feeding my dogs. One asshole I know mentioned that I am supporting the meat industry by purchasing and feeding my dogs these items, and that what Iim doing is bad. My parents won't let me feed the dogs dead animals that they buy from the meat section of the supermarket, because they usually finish them all and don't leave any left overs. My dogs won't touch vegetables or fruits, so what am I supposed to do? I'm not going to starve them because of my beliefs, and I shouldn't try to make any other creature live on a diet that is not natural to them. Sadly I cannot go hunting because I have no clue how to, and could not kill an animal directly because I just couldn't stand it. This sounds a little hypocritical, or maybe even hugely hypocritical, since I do purchase dead animals, but theres not much else I can do. My dogs were trained to be docile, so they don't hunt at all themselves. We're too poor to own a farm, and the only thing I've ever seen one of my dogs kill themselves, was a fly. Therefore, I have just the same set-backs as the omnis who bitch about me buying dog food, and don't enjoy being told I'm doing something hugely immoral, vile, disgusting, etc... when the other person(s) does it themselves. And hell, I know what I'm doing is disgusting. But like I keep saying... I'm going to be at fault either way. I starve the dogs, or support the meat industry in some form or another. One day I won't have dogs anymore and won't continue to purchase any animal products, but I'm too young to get a good job that will buy veggie dog food, and I doubt they'd eat the veggie dog food anyway. Sometimes I get lucky and there are a few scraps of dead animals from the meat section of the supermarket for my dogs, but really, I'm ranting on.... Bottom line is, I'm not forcing my diet onto the dogs because I don't exactly see dogs as being fit to be vegetarians. I've never seen them run through a corn field and munch down on the corn after peeling off the husks, garble down tomatoes, and for that matter, harvest anything. They were born hunters but have been tamed so that they are calmer/more docile, and do not hunt, but instead wait to be fed by their owners. So what can I do. Yeah, I know, I kind of wandered away from the original topic, but you see what I'm saying.
Good point I did consider, if we adopted a dog, giving it a vegetarian diet. My parents though I was nuts (but then they think my not eating fish is nuts) and anyways we adopted a rabbit. So it's a no brainer As for the venus fly trap, well it consumes the bugs without any interference for mankind for it's entire existence. This isn't a matter of ethics or choice, just survivial. Flies don't live long anyway, and they have a good quality of life until consumption. Which of course can't be said for farm animals. As for giving it dead bugs, that is really very compassionate. The bugs died natually anyway, so in a way you are honouring their life by giving it purpose (morbid and ironic, but still) So don't worry about it
I completly agree. If the plant needs the insect's body, and the insect no longer does, then what's to stop you from finding some use for it that serves a purpose.
I own a venus fly trap as well. The research I've done on them suggests that they don't actually need to consume insects to live... that it's just a kind of supplement to their earthly diet. I don't go out of my way to feed them flies but I have seen them with flies in their grasp on occasion that got there all on their own. What ends up killing them is when people make the leaves close with nothing in them. It takes an incredible amount of energy to perform this action so they DO need to have something in the closed leaves to replenish the lost energy they've put forth to close in the first place. Sorry if I sound like the biggest plant dork... just thought you'd like to know. As for having one in the first place... I don't see anything ethically wrong with it. When nature is allowed to take it's true course without human interference and a being get's eaten by another being for reasons of natural selection.. well... I think that's o.k.. In your case of feeding them already dead flies I think it's cool. You didn't afterall kill the flies yourself, right?
You know... I was just thinking... what about people who give their pets flea baths... I mean... it's better for the dog... but kind of hard to place a finger on.
Who are humans (omnivores) to decide what is moral or proper for other species to eat? If one extends one's veganism to their functioning as a pet owner, perhaps one should consider the morality of owning and controling a member of a different species. If a pet owner is a trustee rather than the owner of the pet, then the desires and nature of that pet should overrule the personal feelings of the owner.
