> How sad for the dogs and bears.  Spearing a bear is a very cruel and slow
way
> for it to die.

How do you think bears normally die in Nature?  Many are killed as
cubs by
other bears.  Many more are injured by their prey and in their
weakened
state are killed by wolves.  This process can take days or even weeks.
Many
simply starve following the population cycles of their prey species.

Cruel deaths are the norm in Nature.  Very few wild animals ever live
to old
age because of the actions of pathogens, parasites and predators.
Without
perdition to kill of the infected, contagious pathogens and parasites
would
rapidly spread, decreasing the prey species survival rate.

Pigs don't know that without bacon far fewer pigs would live and those
that
do live (in the wild) would have much shorter average lifespans and
die much
crueler deaths.  They only know that if they are good pigs and conform
to
their confinement as well as possible they will get to go on the big
trucks
to a far better place. This was the religion taught to the pig Babe in
the
opening scenes of his movie.

Domestication was seen as giving up total freedom to express your DNA
to
achieve your reward in the afterlife.  When Man first entered into a
domestic relationship with dogs, new rules had to be followed to take
full
advantage of the new opportunities afforded.  The first religions
appeared
at this time, preserving these new rules in totemic rituals that both
honored the prey and taught how to kill him effectively.  New domestic
relations with other animals and plants resulted in new rules and
rituals.
Many of these form the basis of current human cultures.

When people ask me about my religion I answer Falconry.

Ray Audette
Author "NeanderThin"
http://www.neanderthin.com