From a Small Portion of the Human Race
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Category Archives: Animal Rights
How it’s Possible to “Love” and Eat Animals
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Proof That Barbaric Traditions like Hunting and Trapping Can Change: Indian court bans animal sacrifice
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/02/india-court-bans-animal-sacrifice-hindu-temples
Agence France-Presse in Shiml
theguardian.com, Tuesday 2 September 2014 06.03 EDT
The court questioned the reasons for animal sacrifices, saying such rituals ‘must change in the modern era’. Photograph: Piyal Adhikary/EPA
A court in remote northern India has banned a long tradition of sacrificing animals for religious reasons, deeming the practice cruel and barbaric.
The high court in Himachal Pradesh has asked police and other officials to enforce its ban on the slaughter, mainly of goats in Hindu temples throughout the state.
“No person will sacrifice any animal in any place of worship. It includes adjoining lands and buildings,” the two-judge bench of the court ruled late on Monday.
“A startling revelation has been made … thousands of animals are sacrificed every year in the name of worship,” the court said.
“Sacrifice causes immense pain and suffering to innocent animals. They cannot be permitted to be sacrificed to appease a god or deity in a barbaric manner,” it said.
The court also questioned the reasons for animal sacrifices, saying such rituals “must change in the modern era”.
The court was ruling on a petition brought by animal rights activists, who applauded the move on Tuesday as long overdue.
“We welcome this ban on animal sacrifice as it will end centuries of cruelty to animals in the name of religion,” local activist Rajeshwar Negi told AFP.
But state lawmaker Maheshwar Singh defended the practice, saying: “This judgment is against the age-old beliefs and customs of many people.”
Goats and sometimes sheep are often sacrificed at the start of winter in temples across Himachal Pradesh with the aim of pleasing Hindu deities.
Animals are symbolically offered to the deity and later taken home by villagers and their guests for eating during the Himalayan state’s bitterly cold winter.
Some of the sacrifices at festivals, including those of “shaand” and “bhunda”, involve large numbers of animals killed using a knife at the entrance of the temples.
Eating Meat Should Be Ancient History
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“Humane Meat” Legitimizes Factory Farming
Somewhere out there someone must be raising ‘food’ animals ‘humanely,’ therefore I’m justified in eating this steak, chicken, egg, pig part, turkey leg, hamburger, sausage, etc., etc., without feeling guilty–there’s always a chance that meat meal was humanely raised and compassionately killed, right?
Wrong!
It’s amazing how many people use some version of this feeble argument in rationalizing their culpability to cruelty, as if ‘humane’ animal farming gives them a license to ‘kill’ (so to speak).
I understand there are some who think the ‘humane meat’ movement will lead to a more compassionate future for factory farmed animals. But the fact is, advocating any form of animal agriculture that results in the breeding and premature death of an animal just legitimizes factory farming to the masses who may not see the subtle difference between a hot dog made with body parts scraped off Farmer John’s bloody-red kill floor or off Farmer Joe’s slightly greener kill floor. Yes, Farmer Joe may be able to keep his slaughterhouse a little tidier, but that’s only because he may ‘process’ fewer animals at a time, not because he truly thinks he’s being ‘compassionate.’
What would it take to provide ‘humane meat’ to everyone who won’t consider giving up their flesh? Robert Grillo answers that question, in this quote from an article entitled, Pasture Raised Eggs: The Humane, Sustainable Fiction:
“As for the scale of such an operation, where does all the land needed to give animals a “natural” farm life come from?, asks author and program director of United Poultry Concerns, Hope Bohanec. “At any given time, there are 100 million head of cattle and 70 million pigs alive in the U.S. Currently, only about 9 percent of all livestock is pasture raised. How would we ever have the land to pasture raise them all? To give all farmed animals the space they need to have even a semblance of a natural life, we would have to destroy millions more acres of wild areas, forests, prairies, and wetlands to accommodate them.”
[This mirrors the situation with open range cattle grazing. Although less than 5% of cows raised and killed for meat are put on the open range, when people see cows out there on National Forest or DNR land, they think their hamburger must have led a nice life out on the range somewhere. Truth is, most cows are raised in overcrowded feed lots.]
“There is not enough land on the planet, or even two planets, to free-range all the billions of pigs, sheep, turkeys, ducks, and chickens. We would need closer to five planet Earths. It simply cannot be done. Free-ranging animals for food can never be more than a specialty market for a few elite buyers.”
And United Poultry Concerns’ president Karen Davis PhD addresses the notion of Hurting Animals Humanely in her article featured in the Dodo:
“No one who truly respects animals, respects their dignity, feels with and for them, and wishes them joy in life supports “farming” them, because animal farming is about degrading animals meanly to the level of their genitals and their genes, mutilating their body parts, destroying their family life, controlling every aspect of their lives including culling (killing) them as one pleases when they are deemed not “productive” enough to keep feeding, and ultimately murdering them.
“How can anyone claiming to respect animals promote a view of them as ‘dinner’?”
This quote from a Facebook friend sums the situation up succinctly: “‘Humane’ animal farming is nothing more than the devil putting on a fancy suit. Vegan is the only way”
And, PETA’s Ingrid Newkirk put out a U-tube on the folly of ‘Humane meat’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfUBMKwVl7Q
“Get To Hoofin It”: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
“Get To Hoofin It”: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Sponsored by The Humane Society of the United States
www.gettohoofinit.com/home/tickets
By Karen Davis, PhD, President of United Poultry Concerns
| Probably everyone reading this knows the feeling of going to the computer each day, clicking on email, and experiencing that knot of dread as the messages unfold with their sad and terrible stories about animals, the horrible and endlessly ingenious ways and reasons that our species has for making animals suffer and die, which includes stripping them of their dignity.
If it’s bad enough knowing what the institutions and entities that we expect to hurt animals are doing to them, there is added despair involved in knowing what is being done to animals by organizations calling themselves “humane,” “anticruelty” and the like. It is monstrous seeing our language of care and respect degraded into completely opposite meanings. A perfect example is this: |
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“We support farmers and ranchers who give proper care to their animals, and act in accordance with the basic ethic of compassion to sentient creatures.”
– The Humane Society of the United States
Most people know enough by now about the realities of animal farming, regardless of scale or label, to envision at least some of the details of what farmers and ranchers actually do to animals, versus verbalizations about “proper care” and “basic ethic of compassion.”
What these abstractions express and perpetuate in this context is alienation from actual animals. What they demonstrate is lack of respect for animals, indeed mockery of the very idea of “respecting” them. No one who truly respects animals, respects their dignity, feels with and for them, and wishes them joy in life supports “farming” them, because animal farming is about degrading animals meanly to the level of their genitals and their genes, mutilating their body parts, destroying their family life, controlling every aspect of their lives including culling (killing) them as one pleases when they are deemed not “productive” enough to keep feeding, and ultimately murdering them.
How can anyone claiming to respect animals promote a view of them as “dinner”?
Will a call to “Respect Your Dinner” advance your empathy and respect for animals as they lie slaughtered on your plate in barbecue sauce? Maybe the code word here is “basic.” Basic ethic of compassion = lowest possible level. In any case, compassion has nothing to do with the business and consumption of animal products. Its purpose is to gain customers and subvert consciences, to the extent that a conscience exists toward animals made into meals and blessed over in this condition even by their, uh, advocates. Like “humane,” the word compassion in this context is a mockery of both the animals and the meaning of words, including the word advocacy. It is the final gut punch to those we’re supposed to be advocating for.
| Click on each animal photograph in this link for more information: www.gettohoofinit.com For more commentary, see pattrice jones here: Peaceful Prairie here: James McWilliams here: |
 Basic ethic of compassion in action. |
Northern Ireland says ‘NO’ to fox and stag hunting
http://www.league.org.uk/news-and-opinion/press-releases/2014/july/northern-ireland-says-no-to-fox-and-stag-hunting
29 July 2014
Animal welfare charity, the League Against Cruel Sports, are appealing to the animal loving public of Northern Ireland to support their anti-hunting campaign by attending a rally against fox and stag hunting this Saturday 2nd August, from 2pm at the Stormont Buildings.
The Rally which is being held by Noelle Robinson, Green Party Councillor for Bangor Central in partnership with the charity, will highlight that Northern Ireland is now the only region within the UK that has not introduced a complete ban on fox and stag hunting.
In 2002, the introduction of the Protection of Wild Mammals Act made it illegal to hunt a wild mammal with a pack of hounds in Scotland. In 2004, after 80 years of tireless campaigning by the League, England and Wales followed suit and the Hunting Act was passed. Ten years on, there is currently no hunting legislation that exists in Northern Ireland and as such hunting foxes and stags with dogs, continues to be legal.
The charity have therefore given this campaign priority status and hope they will be able to ensure that this barbaric practice is also made illegal in Northern Ireland.
Janice Watt, Senior Public Affairs Officer in N.I said: “It is vital that we gain the support of both the N.I public and politicians in order to resign this cruel and blood thirsty sport to the history books where it belongs. It is not acceptable in the modern age for any animal to be chased to exhaustion, and then ripped apart whilst still alive.
“The public were outraged at the leniency shown to dog fighters convicted this year in our courts – but what is the difference between setting dogs on a domestic pet, and setting dogs on a fox or stag? The answer is none. We are urging people to show their support for this campaign by attending the rally at Stormont on Saturday.”
Official figures released this month revealed more individuals were prosecuted for hunting with dogs last year in England and Wales (2013), than in any other since the 2004 ban came into force. A total of 341 convictions under the Act, make it the most successful piece of wild animal legislation, with one person on average prosecuted under the Act every week, and over two-thirds of these convicted.
Cancel Ted Nugent for His Violence Against Animals
While I’m happy to hear that Ted Nugent’s concerts are being cancelled across the country because of his well-documented racist remarks and that the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence has a petition out to get his name off the list of headliners at an Ohio rock show, I’d like to see someone cancel him for his habitual violence against animals and his many blatantly speciesist statements.
Granted, Ted’s just an idiot. But to animals, he’s a dangerous idiot. From Meet the NRA.org, get a load of some of his hateful, illogical statements (presented here in chronological order of their idiotic appearance):
In a March 8, 2010 op-ed for the Washington Times, Nugent mocked high profile individuals who have been killed or injured by animals including, “Steve Irwin, brain-dead hippie grizzly bear neighbors, religious voodoo rattlesnake witch doctors, homosexual Las Vegas lion huggers, and the Orca handlers at Sea World.” Regarding his practice of riding a buffalo on stage during concerts, Nugent said, “I carried a 10mm handgun in my belt during those stage rides, just in case the beast decided to go buffalo on me. A quick 200-grain armor-piercing slug through the back of his head would have made the difference between a momentary increase in entertainment value and a few dozen or more trampled rock fans. I knew this, and I was prepared.”
On July 21, 2011, Nugent tweeted, “HumaneSocietyOfUnitedStates is vile criminal scam liars.”
On April 14 2012, Ted Nugent signed a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, admitting that he had illegally shot, killed and transported a black bear in southeast Alaska in May 2009 and transported it in violation of the federal Lacey Act. Nugent agreed to a $10,000 fine and a two-year probation. He also agreed to pay Alaska $600 . After signing the agreement, Nugent advised fellow hunters, “ even when you are aghast at a maniac, inexplicable, illogical law, please abide by those laws at all costs .” According to Nugent, his prosecution for killing the black bear was the result of a “ witch hunt” inspired by his political activism. “ We are the people turning up the heat, and that’s why I’m being singled out by certain fish and game agencies and certain U.S. attorneys ,” he stated. Nugent then turned his attention to female Democrats in the House of Representatives…
On September 1, 2012, Nugent tweeted, “Did I mention how insane fun it is slaughtering pigs with machinegunsfrom helicopters? Cleanse the goodearth.”
On November 13, 2012, Nugent tweeted, “Since soulless animal rights fools hate nature I will kill many deer for them.”
In a March 2013 interview with Brett Winterble on Sirius XM radio, Nugent stated, “I took my machine gun in the helicopter—in the Texas hill country—me and my buddy ‘Pigman.’ His name is ‘Pigman’; I’m the swine czar. I killed 455 hogs with my machine gun. I did it for Bill Maher and all those other animal rights freaks out there.”
In a March 18, 2013 interview on a Lynchburg, Virginia talk radio show, Nugent stated, “When you have freaks like Bill Maher and the animal rights freaks, these brain-dead, doped up monsters, these mongers that think that they’re gonna tell Ted Nugent I can’t eat venison. Every time I hear the words ‘animal’ or ‘right’ in the same paragraph I kill more stuff.”
In an August 13, 2013 radio interview on “The Mike Huckabee Show,” Nugent spoke about his hunting dog Gonzo, stating, “We literally hunt anywhere between 250 and 300 days a year. And you think Gonzo is good on ducks, you should see him on squirrels and doves and rabbits and woodcock and grouse. He really is a mystical, wonderful hunting dog.”
On October 25, Nugent tweeted, “Weirdos against hunting are against nature herself-pure veison [sic] forever
In a January 14, 2014 op-ed for Newsmax, Nugent asserted, “The whole global warming lie is a giant, international environmental scam and hoax designed to control people by instigating fear and panic. There is no global warming, only hot-air from Al Gore and his gaggles of Woodstock rejects who have made many millions by perpetuating something that just isn’t so.” Contrary to Nugent’s statement, global climate change is a phenomenon that is well-supported by research conducted by agencies such as the National Academy of Sciences, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.”
Oh, and who can forget the bold proclamation he made back on April 14, 2012 during a live interview at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting , “If Barack Obama becomes the president in November again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year…”
Why “Ethical Hunting” is a Literal Oxymoron and a Physical Impossibility
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Skewed Priorities
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Exposing the Big Game 