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Thread: Is this called shutting the barn door too late?
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Old 02-26-2023, 04:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Bill14564 View Post
The solution to the alligator "problem" is the same as the solution to the other, off-topic problems: Don't put yourself in an obviously dangerous situation. Don't stand on the tracks while a train is approaching is more than just grammatically the same as don't stand on the shoreline while an alligator is approaching.

Just curious - why do you think that disguising an accusation as a question makes a good argument?

In answer to your accusation, I don't value an alligator's life over an human life. If I was there at the time and had a weapon with me there is no question which of the two I would have used the weapon on.

But that isn't the situation now, it isn't an alligator life vs. human life situation. The question now is whether alligators in their natural habitat can coexist with humans? Do we need to kill all the alligators to make humans safe? Over the last 75 years there has been fewer than one death by alligator every three years. Of all the things out there that can kill us, alligators seem to be relatively safe. When you consider the circumstances behind many of those deaths (wading in to retrieve a disc or golf ball, standing on the shore watching the alligator approach) it seems the humans took the action to put themselves in danger - were it not for clearly poor choices the humans made, they would not have been killed.

If an animal is threatening a human then the animal should lose. If a human puts themselves into a dangerous situation then it's hard to blame the animal. Killing animals to make it impossible for humans to make bad choices is just wrong.

An alligator kills a human about once every three years. By contrast, dogs kill between 30 and 40 humans EACH AND EVERY YEAR! If you want to protect humans from animals then alligators are the wrong focus. When you argue to eradicate dogs as strongly as you argue to kill alligators THEN I will respect your position.
Dogs in The Villages are supposed to be leashed; tethered to their owner. Alligators are free to roam wherever their hearts desire.
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