From: unglenie@ford.ecn.purdue.edu (Robert J Unglenieks)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.animals
Subject: Meat eating and hunting
Date: 14 Sep 92 03:20:28 GMT
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network

Scott Wood writes:
>And how can you call it useless when every deer that our family has gotten
>has gone in the freezer.  I don't know if you eat me, but I do and I always
>will.  I have the balls to kill my own food instead of paying someone at the
>slaughter house to do it for me.

Robert J Unglenieks writes:
I have the balls to kill my own food.  But it wasn't a breathing, feeling,
creature whose mission in life was survival until someone snuffed it
because it tasted good.  And if you use the "plants are alive", realize that
it'll work only if you eat no veggies, and kill the animals to save the
life of the plant.  Animals will eat the same amount or more of veggies than
I do, but I didn't have to destroy a sentient being to satisfy a craving.

>Besides the meat, we have all the hides, all the horns, occassionally use
>the hoofs and bones for various things.  We do not waste, we use.  This year
>I have talked all the hunters in my immediate hunting circle to donate
>their hamburg and any other meat they can spare to Hunters for the Hungry.
>And you call this waste?

There are non-animal alternatives to many, if not all, products.  In Indiana,
there is a problem with an overabundance of deer in the State Parks (no
hunting allowed, hunters reintroduced deer to the state in the 30's).  There
are two options being pursued in a study.  Birth control and hired marksman.
I prefer the birth control, but if for some god awful reason they choose
the other, the plan is to have one marksman and all the meat goes to the
local shelters.  The goal of the second option is to target breeding females
only.  This is population control for more than one season.

>And, by the way, you speak of "management".  My state offers thousands of
>block permits a year to farmers who have crop damage from high deer
>deer populations.  These are not deer feed crops.  These are human feed.
>If AR groups had there way, we would all be vegetarians and hunting would
>be abolished.  

Sounds good to me.

>If AR groups had there way, there would then have to be
>more farming.  Thus if AR groups had there way, humans would have to
>starve because high populations of deer and other animals were eating
>crops that would normally go to market (prices would rise, and poor
>vegetarian families would not be able to afford to eat)

There are several references that show that if humans ate vegetarian diets,
LESS agricultural land would be used.  Seems that cattle take up a large
proportion of crops in the way of feed.  This would open up more habitat for
the animals.  Doesn't this sound good?

>Is this what you want?  When deer run out of food in the woods, they either
>_die_ or find other food.  Is this what you really want?  Dead deer and dead
>people?  Or are you going to be willing to fork out money to supplicate these
>animals diets with high priced veggies when that occurs?

The last time I looked, legumes provided a comparable nutritional value at
a lower cost than animal flesh, and provides a healthier diet too.....
If you open up more habitat for the deer and natural predators do to less
land use for meat-centered diets, we all benefit, right?

Rob U, make mine a Nature's burger please
--
-       Rob Unglenieks             REAL race cars DON'T wear BOWTIES       -
-     "Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle           -
-      of compassion to embrace all living creatures."                     -
-                           -  Albert Einstein                             -
Newsgroups: talk.politics.animals