Post by dawnoftime on Apr 18, 2013 5:37:11 GMT -6
Animal lover....hmmm? How many lovers on this thread eat meat? How many eat pork - the flesh of an animal that is more intelligent than a dog (so say the scientists)? I am a meat eater, and therefore cannot say of myself that I am an animal lover. If what I ate, lived a free or at least good-enough life, I might still say that. But I eat chicken (and have seen what the conditions are in chicken facilities.) I eat pork and beef (and I've seen the feedlots). I drink goats milk and know that to "freshen" a cow or goat - it has to have offspring. But one can't allow the calf or kid to nurse and still sell the milk commericially. So...the offspring are usually disposed of immediately. Or raised to be eaten without the benefit of knowing their mothers. Not much love in this plan. I feel a little crazy in that I know that I SHOULD not eat meat (at least meat grown this way). But an organic chicken costs about 25$! Organic grass fed beef is grown here - it is often stringy and tough. So I take the easy way...
I think you make some good and interesting points, Paulette. We have a pig here at he sanctuary that was rescued because -- as is the case with "mini pigs" -- the people were starving her to keep her tiny. I hadn't had much experience with pigs before, but she is the most intelligent (in human terms) and emotionally sensitive animal I have ever been around. She loves music (and dances to Lady Gaga, her favorite artist, while waving paper or her blanket -- and no, I'm not making this up) and loves to listen to French. She used to sleep on my lap on the couch every evening before she caught up on her size, and was extremely sensitive to my moods and how I talked to her. If I got disappointed in her she would get really distraught and I'd have to tell her it was ok. My wife actually made the pig mad once and she held a grudge for days until my wife had to verbally apologize to get things back to normal, which worked immediately.
Our pig Scout has become a real mascot in the town we live in. They have gotten used to seeing her picketed out to graze in the front yard with her little coat on. People come to visit her and love to hear about what she's been up to. Many of the visitor's are meat eaters and feel guilty. I tell them that it is true that factory farming is horrible and I can't imagine what other animals like Scout must go through. When they talk about the expense of humanely raised meat I can sympathize -- we are living on a shoestring here, too. I suggest to them that if they can't afford the humane meat then maybe if they wanted they could have a "Scout" meal a couple or few times a week where they simply have a vegetarian alternative like pasta or soup. If everyone did that we would lighten the demand for meat and we could adopt more humane practices. Many people I have talked to have made this a habit in Scout's honor.
I know it is easy to feel like you can't do anything or there is little point in doing small things, but I really believe if we work together it makes a difference. Just do what you can.
My sister who is vegan tells me things I never knew that keep me motivated. For example, if everyone ate vegetarian just half the time it would end our dependence on foreign oil, have a huge impact on greenhouse gasses, and immensely help the cleaning of air and water. It is so easy to forget that all these things are connected.