[Avodah] torture in halacha???

[Lisa Liel]

On 5/18/2012 11:29 AM, hankman wrote:
>
> On 16/05/2012 9:10 AM, hankman wrote:
>> Consider the much vaunted annual baby seal hunt. According to you
>> (and me as well), I have a "purpose" - the valuable pelt - but can
>> I now choose either a painful or painless way to obtain the pelt at
>> will? I would think not
> RZS wrote:
> Why do you think not?  How do you square this with the fact that one
> may pluck a pen from a living bird?
>
> CM responds:
> If you only have a living bird available and you need a quill then it 
> is letsorech, but who says that if you have both a live and a dead 
> bird in front of you that you are still permitted to inflict the tzb"c 
> on the living bird - perhaps you would have to use the feather from 
> the dead bird.

But we don't really use "perhaps"s, do we?  Suppose there's a 
qualitative difference between a quill from a live bird and a quill from 
a dead bird.  So that a quill from a dead bird is a poor replacement for 
one from a live bird.  I can't think of any halakhic reason to refrain 
from using the better quality quill just because it causes the bird 
discomfort.

Lisa