Well Jen, it's all a matter of culture really. Ours is a culture based on many hypocrisies, some downright funny. I'm sure a lot of Hindus feel the same way about the American culture of killing and eating cows. In fact, they also regard rats as a sacred animal as well where we regard them as pests and vectors for disease. When you really look at the bigger picture, our American culture is really only a few hundred years old whereas most of the worlds other cultures have been around for thousands of years that we often consider backwards and unorthodox.
But what it amounts to is basic programming. We are programmed to think that dogs and cats are human companions when in reality, they are merely highly inbred domesticated animals that were produced only for our own use. It's not like the animal really has a choice or say in the matter not unlike any other animal we take in as a pet.
So, where does that fit in with the feeding of a dog or a cat to something such as a snake? Well, it all depends on your openness of mind really. Personally, I do not see anything logically wrong with this. What I find amusing is the fact that people who keep reptiles that have such an adverse emotional response in the matter. After all, we consistently sacrifice animals to be fed to our reptiles, simple as that really. If someone could prove to me that a mouse or a rat has any less feeling of pain or fear and the lack of wanting to survive when compared to a dog or a cat, then maybe I might want to reconsider my position on this. But the fact is, no animal regardless of species or even intellectual level, wants to become a prey item for another animal, none! In fact, I think it's rather sad when we can subjugate ourselves to condone the killing of one species of animal while condemning the killing of another just because of some programmed emotional attachment we might have.
What I think gives a black eye to the reptile industry is not the fact that these types of incidents happen, but the exact reasons why they happen. In other words, there's no denying that there's a significant group of people that merely get a snake or a lizard (such as a nile monitor) just so they can feed it something live to watch that animal suffer and die. That's what sickens me! It's these people that hurt our industry the most, their lack of respect and empathy for any and all life. These are the same people that once they become bored with their monster pet, then lose interest for it to get sick and die or they might even go as far as pitting it against another animal for pure entertainment. Gee, sounds a lot like cock or pit bull fighting doesn't it?
I don't think it's hypocritical to be able to love and respect all animals and yet also use them as a food source for another animal as long as it's done with respect and care. I raise a lot of mice and rats for our snake collection. I probably spend more time taking care of these rodents than I really do with my snakes actually. While they are raised to be food items, they are also well cared for and fed and kept in very clean conditions. My rodents are probably even taken better care of than some dog or cat owners take care of their beloved pets!
I think the problem is that people, especially our society, try to see things in a right or wrong world when in reality, right and wrong are merely ideological illusions that we bestow upon ourselves so that we can pretend that we are somehow above the harsh reality of our true world.
So, is it wrong that this one particular individual was feeding cats to his snake? On the basic premise, I don't believe so. Especially not if his sole intention was merely for the sake of just feeding another animal. If you lived in an area that had coyotes and kept outdoor cats and one day you found a cat killed by a coyote, you might be sad or even angered, but you are of the mind that this is merely natural for this to happen. It's no different than a snake eating a cat, or a rat or whatever really. Now, if the snake didn't want to eat cats and the guy was forcefeeding him one, then that might be a different story too. But that raises another major question doesn't it? How many of us use tactics to feed reptiles a food item such as a mouse that they normally don't want to eat? Hm, force feeding, lizard/frog/toad scenting, all those tactics? Yeah, we're really ones to pass judgement onto others
