From: jjohnson@convex.com (Jennifer L. Johnson)
Newsgroups: rec.food.veg
Subject: Re: LEATHER
Date: 10 Apr 92 18:09:28 GMT
Organization: CONVEX Computer Corp. Richardson, TX, USA
Originator: jjohnson@muse.convex.com
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.


In article  <vykhbfhb@csv.warwick.ac.uk>, csuac@warwick.ac.uk (The Juggler)
writes: 

>Jeniffer,

actually, it's Jennifer - 2 n's, 1 f  ;^)

>What do you feed to you strays?

I received email asking the same thing.  Here's a summary:

This has always been a problem for me.  I have 8 cats (+1 stray who I feed)
and 2 dogs.  The dogs could probably get by on a vegetarian diet, but
everything I've read says that cats must eat meat to be healthy.  I feel that
my first obligation is to _my_ animals, so I feed them commercial pet food
(Science Diet).  <alas>  BTW: Over the years, I've lost 3 critters to old
age - all between 15 and 20 years old - so I must be doing a good job of
keeping them healthy.

My parents are meat-eaters and they feel sorry for my critters because
don't get bones or table scraps, so my mom saves every little scrap of meat
and bone, and I feed these scraps to my critters.  Again, this is meat that
would otherwise go out with the trash, so I don't feel bad about using it.  I
get a little grossed out handling it, though!

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to ask the "experts" how to deal with
this problem at the first Texas Conference for the Animals.  Among the
speakers were John Robbins and the head of HSUS (I can't remember his name).
At one of the meals, I managed to sit with these folks and I asked them what
to do about the "feeding animals to my animals" problem.  The consensus was
that if until (and unless) we (Americans) became a vegetarian society, there
would always be surplus meat products available for pet food.  Most of what
goes into pet food isn't legal for sale as human food, so this surplus would
simply be thrown away if not for the pet food market.

But, they said (and this is the downside of a vegetarian society) if we did
become a vegetarian society, we could no longer justify keeping carnivorous
animals as pets.  While I would like to see us become a largely vegetarian
society, I don't think it's realistic to expect everyone to stop eating meat.
So I'll continue to feed animals to my animals until the supply of
meat-byproducts is gone, which probably won't be in my lifetime.  

>If you dont eat any animal products youself ,do you give your
>kids/granchildren/friends children etc chocolate or sweet containing
>gelitine?

Well, I don't have kids/grandkids/friends' kids, etc.  but *I* don't
eat gelatine.  Nasty stuff!

>If you dont buy from shops that sell live animals, do you azlso not
>buy from shops that sell dead ones? If so how do you justifie it!

What I meant by that was, I don't shop at stores that sell pets.  I
buy my critters' food at a pet supply store that has a policy against
promoting puppy mills, etc., by selling live animals.

Of course, I buy my food from stores that sell meat.  How do I justify
it?  I've got to eat something, and I've got to get it somewhere.  I
live in the "big city"; I can't just grow what I need in a garden, my
yard's way too small.  I would prefer to do my grocery shopping at
a store that sells no meat, but there isn't a single one in my area.
Even the wonderful Whole Foods Market sells organically raised flesh.
I keep putting notes in the suggestion box asking that they get
rid of the meat counter (because I believe many, maybe even the
majority, of their customers would prefer it that way), but no
luck so far.

Just curious:  Do you have meat-free supermarkets in the UK?

>Its so hard to be consistent

It sure is!  It's just about impossible to be *completely* consistent.  All we
can do is try.

-- 
Jennifer L. Johnson |   "While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered 
jjohnson@convex.com |    beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on 
                    |    this earth?" 		--George Bernard Shaw
Newsgroups: rec.food.veg