Animal Rights Groups Discussion

[FlynnTheBP]

Reminds me of this girl on facebook who told me to buy "meat from the grocery store", berating me for buying live rats (for when Cake was still on live).

I explained to her that 1. snakes have to eat entire bodies, and BP's won't eat chopped meat anyway, and 2. I'm in the process of converting him to frozen thawed rats, and he's just picky. She was okay with frozen thawed rats. Because heck, you buy them frozen, so they were never alive, right? Just frozen rats having some frozen babies.

My personal favorite was a comment I received on a hunting site about me hunting for meat. I don't remember the exact wording of the reply to my post, but it was something along the lines of: "Why don't you just get some meat from the store? Those animals are bred to be eaten. Deer aren't." It's funny how people think that a factory farmed chicken, likely one that was raised in a tiny cage and never saw the outside of the dark, cramped factory it lived and died in, has a better life then a wild animal that is ethically shot or trapped. It truly is a disconnect. People associate a wild animal with something majestic and frankly, above an animal that we perceive as food. It's really too bad, and I feel like hunters get a lot of flack for just trying to go about doing something we enjoy. I love hunting and I love knowing that the meat/fish I'm eating was humanely harvested by me. How much better can you get then that?

[redshepherd]

My personal favorite was a comment I received on a hunting site about me hunting for meat. I don't remember the exact wording of the reply to my post, but it was something along the lines of: "Why don't you just get some meat from the store? Those animals are bred to be eaten. Deer aren't." It's funny how people think that a factory farmed chicken, likely one that was raised in a tiny cage and never saw the outside of the dark, cramped factory it lived and died in, has a better life then a wild animal that is ethically shot or trapped. It truly is a disconnect. People associate a wild animal with something majestic and frankly, above an animal that we perceive as food. It's really too bad, and I feel like hunters get a lot of flack for just trying to go about doing something we enjoy. I love hunting and I love knowing that the meat/fish I'm eating was humanely harvested by me. How much better can you get then that?

Exactly omg. It's ridiculous! I thought it was widely known that one of the biggest problems in animal welfare right now is the treatment of livestock/poultry on factory farms, before they're killed (and not humanely killed either) and butchered. But so many people lack this knowledge and sense. Hunting wild animals for food with humane weapons/tools is truly the most humane way to acquire meat for the fridge lol. Especially with the amount of food just one deer provides. And I'm just speaking from my perception living in a super suburban/urban state lol.

[AntTheDestroyer]

So we all know the side where PETA is the devil, but are there not portions of even this hobby that are pretty inhumane? The first thing that comes to mind is the wild importation and mass collection side of the industry. I try not to speak in absolutes so I am sure there are factions that accomplish this in a humane manor, but the terrible conditions in this part of the industry is pretty well detailed. It not only makes all of us responsible owners look bad to the general public, but also gives these over the top groups ammunition to tear us down. Now it seems that we are mostly for animal welfare so who are the groups that excel in this area?

[Lizardlicks]

I keep chickens on my little 7000 sqft lot in the middle of the city. 5 laying hens, 1 (technically not legal but the neighbors don't mind him) rooster. This was their first winter, and they stopped laying entirely from mid November to mid February. Feed costs me about 30 bucks a month in the winter when they don't have forage, then add the cost of the pullets initially and what I've put into housing them, and that certainly adds up to being more expensive than just going to the grocery store and buying a dozen there. But the eggs I get have yolks so dark orange they're almost red, they eat the bugs out of my garden, they eat my kitchen scraps and till my compost (which goes back into the garden, which feeds my family), when I do have extra eggs during the summer, I sell them to offset the cost of feed, and I'm going to try hatching some of my own eggs this spring and selling chicks to further offset the cost and I can also replenish my flock for near to free (or entirely free, if one or more of my girls goes broody) later on. And I just straight up get enjoyment from watching them hunt and scratch and peck all day, and they practically feed themselves on that plus the scraps during the summer.

Yes, the eggs are more expensive than the grocery store, but I have happy, healthy, humanely treated chickens that give me so much more than just a carton of mediocre eggs.

[Reinz]

Reminds me of this girl on facebook who told me to buy "meat from the grocery store", berating me for buying live rats (for when Cake was still on live).

I explained to her that 1. snakes have to eat entire bodies, and BP's won't eat chopped meat anyway, and 2. I'm in the process of converting him to frozen thawed rats, and he's just picky. She was okay with frozen thawed rats. Because heck, you buy them frozen, so they were never alive, right? Just frozen rats having some frozen babies.

My fellow blondes amaze me.

[redshepherd]

My fellow blondes amaze me.

I always love when you post this pic LOL
Fortunately, she was chinese, but I'm also chinese, so there's that.

[Lizardlicks]

Haha, have a similar thing come up in a topic on the BYC forums. A guy who raises his own chickens for meat had a big family BBQ and served the birds he harvested humanely from his flock. A relative (I think a cousin???) was appalled that he would kill his chickens when there was perfectly good meat that they "made" at the grocery store.

[FlynnTheBP]

Exactly omg. It's ridiculous! I thought it was widely known that one of the biggest problems in animal welfare right now is the treatment of livestock/poultry on factory farms, before they're killed (and not humanely killed either) and butchered. But so many people lack this knowledge and sense. Hunting wild animals for food with humane weapons/tools is truly the most humane way to acquire meat for the fridge lol. Especially with the amount of food just one deer provides. And I'm just speaking from my perception living in a super suburban/urban state lol.

I feel you. I live in California.

[FlynnTheBP]

Haha, have a similar thing come up in a topic on the BYC forums. A guy who raises his own chickens for meat had a big family BBQ and served the birds he harvested humanely from his flock. A relative (I think a cousin???) was appalled that he would kill his chickens when there was perfectly good meat that they "made" at the grocery store.

You're on BYC too?! I didn't think I would find a fellow chicken lover here. I haven't been active for a while but I love those forums.

[FlynnTheBP]

So we all know the side where PETA is the devil, but are there not portions of even this hobby that are pretty inhumane? The first thing that comes to mind is the wild importation and mass collection side of the industry. I try not to speak in absolutes so I am sure there are factions that accomplish this in a humane manor, but the terrible conditions in this part of the industry is pretty well detailed. It not only makes all of us responsible owners look bad to the general public, but also gives these over the top groups ammunition to tear us down. Now it seems that we are mostly for animal welfare so who are the groups that excel in this area?

I find that the smaller private owned welfare groups are the best. They usually have similar principles to what we've discussed so far. There is also a lot of misinformation about the exotic pet trade and trafficking. Lots of groups, like said PETA, spread this misinformation for their own purposes. Many snakes in the pet trade are either CB or harvested ethically from the wild. There are always exceptions, but they are less common then you would think.