But domestic cats kill far more than necessary for food. I've had cats that were very aggressive hunters, but never ate their prey, and another cat that preferred her kills to what we fed her, but nonetheless killed far more than she ate.
If this wasn't for "sport", then what was it? Did I just happen to have extra sociopathic pets? It seems more likely to me that they just liked killing little things, and this behavior is not unusual in felix domesticus.
Note that domestic cats are rare among felines in this, and they kill for fun even when they go feral. It seems likely that it's a trait that humans helped to encourage, by feeding the cats than brought home the most mice.
The question of whether or not it's "moral" for a cat to kill a mouse he isn't going to eat is bigger than this conversation, and clearly not self evident.
While it's very true cats can kill more than they need, they'll often donate the catch. My cats frequently brought gifts, when you find a 2-3 lb rat on your doorstep in the morning and a cat looking all pleased it's often quite hard to reward the critter.
I think the very nature of domestic cats largely exceeds our understanding. The question of morality in a species specifically bred as verminators is complex. Especially when cats are one of the few species that is commonly seen adopting other species. One of my childhood cats even taught the puppy we got how to hunt birds, although ten years older and he's yet to catch one.
I think the study of morality in other creatures, especially our domesticated species is a key philosophical and ethical question. I think proving morality in our domestic pets would help give more power to the SPCA's to protect species from the immorality of us. I don't know the effect it would have on the food production industry, but as a whole I think we've largely ignored the moral and ethical issues there for long enough that we'll still manage to ignore it for a lot longer.
If this wasn't for "sport", then what was it? Did I just happen to have extra sociopathic pets? It seems more likely to me that they just liked killing little things, and this behavior is not unusual in felix domesticus.
Note that domestic cats are rare among felines in this, and they kill for fun even when they go feral. It seems likely that it's a trait that humans helped to encourage, by feeding the cats than brought home the most mice.
The question of whether or not it's "moral" for a cat to kill a mouse he isn't going to eat is bigger than this conversation, and clearly not self evident.