Newsgroups: rec.food.veg
Subject: Is animal use inevitably inhumane? Looks like it.
From: 11jsutton@gallua.gallaudet.edu
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 01:58:48 GMT
Organization: Gallaudet University

Recent comments by a variety of people both on rfv and elsewhere
have gotten me thinking about the whole question of "cruelty-free"
uses of animals.  There is commonly a belief or a hope that wool,
milk, eggs, etc can be or even *are* obtained without the animal
suffering to any extent.  However I've come to the conclusion that
*no* farm with more than a handful of animals on it can ever hope
to treat them kindly.

The problem is economical, one of competing with less humane
rival farmers.  If one's rival discards all male chicks, for
example, leaving them to die, it's extremely difficult to afford
the costs of keeping one's own male chicks alive as they grow up,
grow old, and die, never bringing in any income.  So, any farmer
hoping to produce cheap eggs will more-or-less inevitably start
slaughtering any non-egg-producing chicks just to remain compet-
itive.  Now he might be humane about killing them, or he may
just leave them to die of suffocation, but he'll still kill them
one way or another.

The same basic principle of economic competition holds true for
wool, as well.  Shearers (at least the ones in Australia) are
given quotas to fulfill - a number of sheep that *must* be shorn
in a day for their paycheck to be as expected.  This means that
the shearers *must* hurry.  There's no time to reassure a
terrified sheep before shearing it, and if it struggles, there's
no time for first aid after it gets wounded by the rapidly-moving
shears.  All there's time for is hot tar to cover the wound and
prevent infection.  Some people say "well, at least the sheep is
getting cared for", but personally when I have a bad cut I need
cold water and a bandaid-like covering for it, not tar to
increase the pain and cause long-term irritation!

This is why I've decided to remain a strict vegan for the time
being.  I can conceive of one day possibly owning a cow or
similar and using some products from it, but I'll never use
animal products whose origins are uncertain to me.

*      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *

Incidentally, on an unrelated note, earlier this evening I
sacrificed the most I *ever* have for animal rights. ;-)  Previously
I've nearly starved myself for four years eating in school
cafeterias, withdrawn from a 4-credit course to avoid dissections,
and spent a great deal of leisure and study time on AR activism,
but tonight I was called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice.....
There I was, enthusiastically watching the latest all-new
episode of Star Trek, when someone noticed the borrowed PeTA
magazine in my hands and started asking me questions about AR.
After a few agonizing seconds pondering my options, I made a
decision to forego the rest of the Star Trek episode (the Western
holodeck one!) and talk to the person interested in AR.  Thus, I
missed finding out just why the holodeck program wouldn't stop
running, and also on finding out what the ultimate solution was.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the meaning of True Sacrifice.

;-)          ;-)          ;-)          ;-)         ;-)

--Jennifer Sutton
  11jsutton@gallua.bitnet
Newsgroups: rec.food.veg