Friday, December 30, 2005

A Question

Should sheep be allowed to shoot wolves on sight? Wolves prey upon sheep. Sheep do nothing to invite attack, other than being made out of meat. If a sheep sees a wolf does it have the moral right to shoot the wolf? Even if the wolf is not, at that moment, hunting? What if the wolf is drinking from the river, or sleeping, or nursing its pups? What about the pups? Does the fact that they will certainly grow up to be wolves and kill sheep justify the sheep killing them? Do sheep have the moral right to form hunting parties and seek out and kill wolves, knowing that every dead wolf will save many sheep's lives in the future?