Proposed badger cull - TB, cows...

[bunn]

Interesting blog here : http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/ourwork/b/martinharper/archive/2011/12/14/a-sad-day-for-badgers-and-for-farmers.aspx

There seems to be quite a consensus (in blogs that I read anyway) that vaccines (whether for badgers, or for cows) are the most effective & humane way to go with the TB problem, but I wonder if vaccine development is more difficult than it appears, given that it seems to have taken so long to develop one and we still don't seem to have a working vaccine.

Since something PWWBBIHHALJ said, I always wonder when I see badgers dead on the roadside, if they were really killed by traffic accidents, or if dropping the body by a busy road is a convenient way to dispose of the evidence...

Comments

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I have mixed feelings, too. The problem is that without carnivores, a whole swathe of the countryside would be obselete. So would many breeds of domestic animals which are now an important part of our heritage.

I remember seeing footage of the Japanese tsunami featuring a farm in the radioactive zone - many cattle, trapped in their pens, had starved to death. One stubborn farmer was risking his life to stay and look after the abandoned animals, and was building up an entourage of lost pigs, dogs, etcetera, that had clearly sought him out. I think it illustrated the relationship between Humanity and Domesticates perfectly - the two are inextricably intertwined.

In that respect, I don't think it's right to be completely abandoning meat production and eating. But everything really falls down at slaughter - and I can see why that really cuts you up. You're reliant on semi-skilled labour paid piecemeal, as opposed to proper craftsmen, with the latter being what butchery should really be about...

This is turning into a really interesting debate - thanks!!

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

It's actually very nice to chat to someone who has thought about this so much. Often I find vegetarians have never really got beyond the stage I was at when I made my choice aged four!

Disasters like the tsunami must take a terrible toll on the animals caught up in them but stories like that are so heartwarming.

Rather than hijacking Bunn's LJ, can I add you to my flist? My posts mostly tend to revolve around my animals!

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Please don't think of it as hijacking, I have been reading along, as this is very much Relevant To My Interests! (mind you, I shall go on earwigging if you take it elsewhere anyway :-p)

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

Lol! So long as you don't mind! I ought to post more of this sort of thing really but animal issues tend to polarise people so I usually play fairly safe!

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Sure! I've added you, too!!

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

Great! I look forward to hearing about your other interests too!

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Well, not just the slaughter - I think there is also quite an issue with raising of meat, particularly when imported. I understand that we have relatively strict regulations and generally pretty good welfare in the UK, but that doesn't help when people insist on eating meat regardless of what has been done to the animals that produce it, and therefore it gets imported as a cheapest-possible commodity. :-/

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

What depresses me is that vegetarianisn - and the desire to eat organic, humanely farmed meat - seems to be a mere fad, and one of the first things to be sacrificed when money gets tight. When these same people are happy to keep buying their gadgets, new cars, etc.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

You've come across people who have stopped being veggie as an *economy measure* ? That's SO WEIRD. Surely vegetarianism is much cheaper? I've always tended to go veggie (during times I've done that) for reasons of economy as much as anything else!

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

It was probably my lousy writing... The vegetarianism isn't so dependant on economics, I suppose. But it does seem come in cycles.

Economics seems to be a major factor in determing whether people can 'afford' (or are willing to splash out on, more like...) to support organic farming.