Today is day 15.
My hands are tingling, my teeth feel funny, I have this unquenchable craving to buy rabbits, I feel borderline depressed, and I caught myself petting my blanket. What does this possibly mean? 15 days is the longest I have gone without seeing or touching a real rabbit in over 10 years.
Utter insanity it feels like. So just why haven't I seen a rabbit in 15 days and counting? Well the simple answer is because I moved away from home. About an hour away to be exact and now I no longer have anywhere to keep a rabbit let alone 20+
So now I don't have any rabbits but don't worry they're not all gone. Tristyn still has the Mini Rex and my mom is looking after the remaining Bruns.
So for now I'm rabbitless and there won't be very many litters at all.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
I'm pretty sure everyone at one point or another has come into contact with a vegan. I have met several some I can get along with very well because their choice to not eat meat is personal and they do not judge others who do. Then there are those numerous others who preach about meat is murder and how you're a terrible person for eating meat. That the act of using animals for food is cruel. I often am enraged by this point of view as it seems so illogical. Humans as a species evolved by eating meat "It was this new meat diet, full of densely-packed nutrients, that provided the catalyst for human evolution"..."Without meat, said Milton, it's unlikely that proto humans could have secured enough energy and nutrition from the plants available in their African environment at that time to evolve into the active, sociable, intelligent creatures they became. Receding forests would have deprived them of the more nutritious leaves and fruits that forest-dwelling primates survive on, said Milton." ..."Milton's paper also demonstrates that the human digestive system is fundamentally that of a plant-eating primate, except that humans have developed a more elongated small intestine rather than retaining the huge colon of apes - a change in the human lineage which indicates a diet of more concentrated nutrients." (University of California, Berkeley)
Through science and education now-a-days one can survive of a wholly vegetarian diet, but what about those who have allergies to meat alternatives such as soy, which is one of the most common allergies? Or suffer from ceoliac disease and have to have a glutton free diet which also means in order to get the proteins they need they would have to eat meat? Unless people who require strict diets heavily supplement with pills (which often contain animal by-products) and it seems most vegans are against big pharmas their quality of life would be greatly inpacted.
So is meat really murder? "The killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law...with malice aforethought." So no technically slaughtering animals for food is not "murder" yes animals are killed for meat. They aren't "tortured" like many vegans want you to believe. Animals bruise just like people do if they are beaten. Bruised meat is no longer human grade therefore the meat is no longer worth as much as it should be therefore several parties lose money (which no one likes to do). Therefore extreme measures are taken to ensure that the animals are perfectly sound before being slaughtered to ensure the highest grade of meat.
The slaughtering process has strict guidelines especially in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain methods allowed to slaughter animals are the following:
This method is approved for poultry and rabbits. The severing off the head from the neck ensures that
the animal is dead before being bled. This is an instant death
Each of these methods is outlined in detail, and the regulations require that inspectors identify operations which cause undue "excitement and discomfort" of animals. None of the methods torture or draw out the death process. However death isn't "quiet" usually after one of these methods are applied the nerves cause the animals to twitch and/or kick. This is usually what causes people to mistake the animal is still alive as they're being bled out and processed.
People also tend to forget that these animals are not pets. Humans tend to humanize everything, and forget how complex the human thought process and brain really are. Animals do not grasp the concept of "death" they don't think the way they do. They act on instincts which is something humans tend not to act on at all.
I'm not implying that humans are anyway superior to animals I believe we're all equal but the world requires balance. Without out predators, prey animals would over populate and their food resources will decline rapidly. Everyone learns this in science class plant > herbivore > Carnivore. No one has the right to purposefully abuse or injure an animal. I just don't believe that people who eat meat should be judged harshly because of their choices and I also don't believe that vegans should be judged harshly because of their choices. Everyone has the right to eat what they want (as long as it's legal). I always recommend that you educate yourself find out where that meat you bought came from, where the animal was raised, what abattoir it was sent too same with vegetables. Ask yourself if you agree with how your food was made/treated before you eat it. Was that broccoli grown with harmful pesticides in China? Did that steak come from a factory farm? Look at your labels and do your research. If you can buy locally grown food so you can go see personally how it is raised.
Through science and education now-a-days one can survive of a wholly vegetarian diet, but what about those who have allergies to meat alternatives such as soy, which is one of the most common allergies? Or suffer from ceoliac disease and have to have a glutton free diet which also means in order to get the proteins they need they would have to eat meat? Unless people who require strict diets heavily supplement with pills (which often contain animal by-products) and it seems most vegans are against big pharmas their quality of life would be greatly inpacted.
So is meat really murder? "The killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law...with malice aforethought." So no technically slaughtering animals for food is not "murder" yes animals are killed for meat. They aren't "tortured" like many vegans want you to believe. Animals bruise just like people do if they are beaten. Bruised meat is no longer human grade therefore the meat is no longer worth as much as it should be therefore several parties lose money (which no one likes to do). Therefore extreme measures are taken to ensure that the animals are perfectly sound before being slaughtered to ensure the highest grade of meat.
The slaughtering process has strict guidelines especially in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain methods allowed to slaughter animals are the following:
- Chemical (carbon dioxide)
- This method is approved for sheep, calves and swine. The animal is asphyxiated by the use of carbon dioxide gas before being bled. As bad as the word asphyxiated sounds with carbon dioxide the animals simply just fall asleep. Anyone who has played with dry ice will know how it feels once minute you're awake the next you're not.
- Mechanical (captive bolt)
- This method is approved for sheep, swine, goats, calves, cattle, horses, mules, and other equines. A captive bolt stunner is applied to the livestock so as to produce immediate unconsciousness in the animals before they are bled. Unconcious means also unfeeling. Therefore the animals are unaware of what is happening.
- Mechanical (gunshot)
- This method is approved for cattle, calves, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines. The gun is used to render the animal immediately unconscious (and usually dead) before being bled. This is an instant death for smaller animals.
- Electrical (stunning or slaughtering with electric current)
- This method is approved for swine, sheep, calves, cattle, and goats. The current applied is sufficient to ensure surgical anaesthesia throughout the "bleeding" of the animal.
This method is approved for poultry and rabbits. The severing off the head from the neck ensures that
the animal is dead before being bled. This is an instant death
Each of these methods is outlined in detail, and the regulations require that inspectors identify operations which cause undue "excitement and discomfort" of animals. None of the methods torture or draw out the death process. However death isn't "quiet" usually after one of these methods are applied the nerves cause the animals to twitch and/or kick. This is usually what causes people to mistake the animal is still alive as they're being bled out and processed.
People also tend to forget that these animals are not pets. Humans tend to humanize everything, and forget how complex the human thought process and brain really are. Animals do not grasp the concept of "death" they don't think the way they do. They act on instincts which is something humans tend not to act on at all.
I'm not implying that humans are anyway superior to animals I believe we're all equal but the world requires balance. Without out predators, prey animals would over populate and their food resources will decline rapidly. Everyone learns this in science class plant > herbivore > Carnivore. No one has the right to purposefully abuse or injure an animal. I just don't believe that people who eat meat should be judged harshly because of their choices and I also don't believe that vegans should be judged harshly because of their choices. Everyone has the right to eat what they want (as long as it's legal). I always recommend that you educate yourself find out where that meat you bought came from, where the animal was raised, what abattoir it was sent too same with vegetables. Ask yourself if you agree with how your food was made/treated before you eat it. Was that broccoli grown with harmful pesticides in China? Did that steak come from a factory farm? Look at your labels and do your research. If you can buy locally grown food so you can go see personally how it is raised.
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