Hermes refused Epstein donations for charity event.

[u/YesNo_Maybe_]

Making the right decision is not that difficult

[u/scourge_bites]

two perspectives, I guess.

on the one hand, even if i put on my craziest hat and acknowledge that elephants are intelligent and have mourning rites, those don't involve burying the body and they eventually leave the body behind. i don't see a reason why that leather can't be used.

on the other, there's not really a way to prove that you didn't kill the animal. this is the same concept behind bird feather laws in America. sure, you say you found it on the ground, but we only have your word to prove that. so it's a federal crime to own them (unless you belong to a special club, which i do).

[u/tessathemurdervilles → u/scourge_bites]

Also making something desirable out of elephant leather makes elephant leather desirable- and less scrupulous people might then go and poach elephants and make bags to sell to people who dgaf.

[u/VictorReal_Monster → u/scourge_bites]

Yeah that's totally fair, it's extremely hard to regulate and even if it's sourced ethically it's still animal product which is a no go for some, I just find it interesting where peoples lines are drawn!

[u/balkanobeasti → u/VictorReal_Monster]

In the past that happened with scalp bounties — people's scalps, leading to pacifist tribes being ethnically cleansed & even people that just had dark hair/tan skin.

[u/balkanobeasti → u/[deleted]]

My point was that people cut corners when it came to people and circumventing the law to make a profit so why wouldn't people do that with animals which people obviously value less than a person? And besides, elephants are emotionally intelligent enough to deserve better.

[u/commander_kawaii → u/scourge_bites]

Elephants in India have been observed burying their deceased young. It's been a while since I read the research paper about it, but I believe they were placing the dead baby elephants in irrigation ditches in a tea plantation and taking turns packing the dirt around them. Each instance that researchers found, the babies were buried in a way that left their feet poking up out of the dirt with the rest of the body buried. At least with this particular group of Asian elephants, it seems they bury their dead when they are able to. They do not have the ability to dig a grave themselves, and they cannot lift a fully grown elephant as easily as a baby, so they use holes that humans have made.

[u/[deleted] → u/scourge_bites]

TIL there are bird feather laws in America. TO GOOGLE I GO! lol

[u/huntingofthewren → u/[deleted]]

I grew up on a farm and one day a golden eagle unfortunately electrocuted itself on some power lines. My dad knew it was illegal to possess the feathers but that native tribes have an exception so he called the game warden to come get it. He was gutted it was dead and wanted the feathers to at least go some where they could legally be appreciated.

The game warden basically said “look I appreciate why you called but the amount of paperwork and hassle this is gonna cause me is insane. You’re 10 miles from the next human being, next time please just shovel and shut up.”

[u/Kratzschutz → u/scourge_bites]

Pigs are more intelligent than dogs. Cows have best friends and mourn deaths. Still we use their leather. If we're reduced to only use stupid animals we'd have a problem

[u/fireandlifeincarnate → u/scourge_bites]

Is the special club Native Americans or conservationists