From: bill@dcs.warwick.ac.uk (Bill Ferreira)
Subject: Re: broken kittens leg!!!!( Latins and animal cruelty )
Organization: Department of Computer Science, Warwick University, England
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 12:53:01 GMT

ph600fcy@sdcc14.ucsd.edu (Matthew Harrington) writes:

>Regarding Joel Sanchez's article:

>Well, I surely didn't mean to be a racist, but I do think that
>criticism about other cultures is not necessarily racist.

>Where have I "heard" this information?  My other roommate is a Latin
>American History graduate student and has traveled frequently in
>that region.  He has seen first hand the abuses that animals suffer
>even with children.  He has one story of a puppy being smashed by an
>approximately 50 pound rock by a child barely strong enough to lift
>the rock.

>Also, a relative takes in boarders, and she once took in someone
>from South America.  He was abusive towards her dog to the point
>that he was unwelcome in the house.

>The kitty-abuser living with me now has told stories of her family
>smuggling endangered Amazonian monkeys into New York City by
>tranquilizing them and putting them in their suitcase.  They
>sometimes survive the trip only to perish in the decidely
>un-tropical clime of Long Island.

>And, I would not consider myself a racist by pointing out that the
>Latin tradition of BULL FIGHTING certainly is not humane treatment
>of animals.

>I try not to make "ignorant and uninformed statements", as you say,
>and I do not think that I have done so.

>					Matt Harrington

>-- 
>---------------------------------
>Matthew B. Harrington
>mbharrington@ucsd.edu


	To be able to state categorically that Latin countries have a tradition
and culture that supports and encourages animal rights abuse, one has
in the first instance to define what exactly is a "Latin Country".
As an American, presumably you mean the countries of S. America in the
first instance and also including Spain, Portugal, Italy and maybe
even France.
	Let us start with the countries of S.America. You state several
cases of abuse that you have heard of. They sound very much like
cases of poverty to me. The abuse and sale of exotic (and domestic) animals 
for profit is a feature of many third world countries. Eg. the
export of exotic birds and terrapins in SE Asia. These are not Latin countries.
	From Spain we often hear reports of animals being abused in religious
festivals, or bizarre throwbacks to pagan traditions. These have included
goats & donkeys et. al. These sort of activities are marginalised to
rural communities. Bullfighting is a cruel sport that is practised in Spain
& Portugal, however there are parts of Spain (eg. Galicia in the NW) where
there is no tradition of bull-fighting. In Portugal the bull in not
killed in the fight, but merely teased. So we have two Latin countries
that on closer examination do not wholly embrace the abuse with which you have
charged them. As for France & Italy I do not know of any abuse that might
occur other than that found in any other European country.

Let us turn our attention to some "non-Latin" countries.

	In Eastern Europe & Turkey wild bears are captured, their ribs are broken
to reduce their strength, and they are trained to fight mock battles
and perform purile tricks in order to please passing tourists.
	In the UK, foxes are hunted down by people on horses and packs of hounds
and upon capture the foxes are torn to pieces by the pack. Badgers are 
interrupted in their sets and set upon by dogs who are themselves badly
hurt before killing the badger. The police and RSPCA are continually 
investigating evidence of dog-fighting (esp. with the Pit Bull dog
which originally came from the USA) and despite the accepted view
that the "sport" is widespread, there are few convictions. Finally
the same authorities monitor closely the cruelty which occurs to farm
animals when transported as livestock between the UK and its
European partners, where operators ignore rest stop and feeding requirements
resulting in stress and death of the animals.

So your hypothesis that cruelty to animals is peculiar to Latin
countries has been seen to be false by a simple existensial argument.

William Ferreira.
	
-- 
Bill Ferreira (bill@uk.ac.warwick.dcs)
Dept. of Computer Science,
University of Warwick,
Coventry CV4 7AL, ENGLAND.
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats