The Official Guide to Blowing Up a Horse - Neatorama

Imagine a scenario in which you are out in the wilderness, say, in a national park, using a horse to carry stuff because there are no roads. And the horse dies. Well, you have to continue on foot, but there's a horse carcass in a national park now, with tourists hiking by occasionally. If you leave the horse there, it will attract bears to the hiking trail. What do you do about it?

That very scenario comes with instructions from United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. They recommend explosives. A guideline shows how many pounds of explosives to set underneath each body part. If it's not possible to set them underneath the animal, you can put them on top, but you'll need an entire 55-pound box of explosives. They also recommend removing the horse's shoes before detonation. The goal is "obliteration" of the carcass, but under certain circumstances, "dispersal" of body parts is acceptable. -via Metafilter

See also: The Exploding Whale.

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"If a person had Free Will, wouldn't they simply choose to be a better person?" Easy answer if you're a determinist. I tend to think human nature is a lot more complicated.

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What a nice reply, Colin. Very thoughtful and well written and not just a one or two word comment saying hardly anything.

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You have completely missed the point of the post. It is here because the instructionsi are ridiculously horrid and inappropriate. Without journalists shedding light on such things, they continue in the darkness.

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That's a bit of a stretch. Most people who perform animal cruelty are going to do it with what's lying around, or with their own hands and feet. Not gonna go out and buy explosives. Buying explosives, and not ending up on a FBI List, is a bit harder than you think. Not to mention if someone in your friends/family circle doesn't turn you in first. Michael Vick was literally raising dogs on his property, would fight them, and bury them when they were fatally wounded. No amount of articles or blogs makes someone think in such a sick and petty way. I think it's born into some people to do stuff like that. If a person had Free Will, wouldn't they simply choose to be a better person? Michael Vick had every opportunity in the world to be a better person, from friends and family to money to opportunities etc. It's a hard pill to swallow but, some people are just born to do awful things. And for some of us, the worst thing we'd ever do is jay walk. It is what it is.

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I get that, but what will prevent a twisted individual from following your articles instructions using a living creature?
Why put the idea out there knowing animal cruelty exists?

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