A 70 yr old friend of mine is not planning to get the COVID vaccine.

[Ms. Toad]

68. When you're talking about moral beliefs it's a tough question.

At one time I was a vegetarian because I grew up on a farm and - even on a family farm that was run ethically by most standards - I found the cruelty to animals unacceptable (castrating pigs and calves without anesthesia, for example).

So if I want to be free from participation in that cruelty, where is the line?

Not eating meat is the easy question - but -

Can I wear leather? If the animal was killed recently to make whatever it is, probably not. But can I wear second-hand leather - that comes from animals who were killed decades ago (so nothing I can do can alter what happened to them - i.e. no new animals are being killed to make my shoes) - or is it better to put their hides to good use to at least ensure that they did not suffer only to have their skins tossed in the trash can?

Can I drink milk from grass fed cows who are allowed to roam free and gently milked by hand? If that seems OK, what about the calves that were born in order to generate that milk - must they be allowed to live their lives out running happily about a pasture, un-castrated, not dehorned, not ear tagged, not branded, not be slaughtered for food? Or would it be OK to slaughter them humanely (as long as we didn't inflict pain on them for our convenience - such as branding)?

Many on the left are passionate about how we treat animals - and wrestle with line drawing.

Even though I don't agree with the moral dilemma many on the right feel as to abortion, I recognize it as a similar dilemma. If they truly believe abortion is immoral (and some do), where is the line? That question - as to use of stem cells from a long ago voluntary abortion for testing - is equivalent to my question about the use of second-hand leather or how we treat the calves associated with milk production.