I don't believe animals feel pain the same way as humans. Pain without a rational mind to understand the pain isn't the same as the pain of a human being. To an animal, getting a shot at the vet is the same as getting poked with a needle by some insane guy just because he thinks it's fun; they understand neither, they feel the same pain for both.

Animals will kill each other indiscriminately, according to instinct. I used to have a cat, who'd torture mice to death. Literally torture; he'd bat them around, let them almost get away and then pounce on them, and eventually when the mouse was battered to the point where it was crippled or near death, he'd kill it, and leave its corpse lying there. The cat didn't care. What's more, I think the mouse didn't care. Because animals can't "care", so far as I know, at least not in the same way as humans. The mouse tried to get away because pain=bad is hard-wired into its brain, and for no other reason. The cat killed the mouse because hunting=good is hardwired into its brain.

That said, I dislike seeing animals abused. People should know better than to put any creature through unnecessary pain. Seeing a person with no empathy for the pain of a baby seal somehow clicks in my mind into seeing that person as having no empathy for human pain either. People are supposed to be empathetic to the pain of other creatures, it seems to me.

All depends on the definition of "necessary" though. Like I said, killing a cow is necessary, in my opinion. Maybe to some people, seal coats are necessary. Beats me. So long as it's all semi-humane, I have nothing much against it.

humans are not worth more than animals, we are all equal. --Snowman

If you truly believe this, you're insane. Which do you value more, the life of a mouse or your own life? The life of a cow, or the life of your own mother or father? The life of a goldfish, or the life of your daughter or son?

If you decide to act upon your beliefs, I'm thankful that there are laws to stop you, and other people who don't value human life.