I have less of a problem with animals being bred to eat, rather than being bred for sport/entertainment. At least when they are bred to be eaten they are providing humans with one of their basic needs in life (ok, that need could be met through a vegetarian diet, but I'll leave that debate for another time. Like Bunn I'm not a vegetarian, but I am concerned about the welfare of the animals I eat and have bought only free range/organic milk and eggs for years. I also only buy meat that is either organic or certified as meeting high standards of animal welfare. Because of this we don't eat meat very often as it is too expensive, but I'd rather eat less of it and pay more to ensure the animals I do eat were well looked after while they were alive. Similarly with fish, I will not knowingly buy from a source that is farmed because of the overcrowding that takes place.
I realise the guy in the article wasn't actually doing anything illegal, just cashing in on a problem created by the dog racing industry and I think it is very bad he's had death threats as that really doesn't do anyone any good. You have to wonder what sort of person thinks that's a good way of making some cash on the side though. My real problem is with the industry itself, the conditions the animals are kept in, and that no thought is put into how many unwanted animals are produced each year as a by-product. I just don't think it's right that they should be able to brush under the carpet what happens to the dogs when they come to the end of their working lives. The dogs should be accounted for, even if they do end up being put down. Obviously it would be better if all the dogs could be re-homed, but in practice if 10,000 are retired each year, that's going to be impossible. Which is why I think anything that would require that many animals to be put down each year, is intrinsically wrong and should be stopped. But then I believe using animals for sport/entertainment is wrong anyway and I'll happily admit to holding very strong views on this subject.
I'd actually have less of a problem with it, if the dogs that were too old to race were fed (no pun intended) into the food chain, it would be less of a waste than just burying their carcasses. Though again I wouldn't eat them personally, unless I knew the conditions they had been reared in were acceptable. I also suspect that greyhound would be rather tough but then that's what casseroles are for...
It's an excellent point that if you are going to have an industry that does something like this in order to provide people with fun, it seems only fair that someone should at least keep records and the fun-makers should be able to easily find out the impact of their hobby.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-07-18 03:56 pm (UTC)I realise the guy in the article wasn't actually doing anything illegal, just cashing in on a problem created by the dog racing industry and I think it is very bad he's had death threats as that really doesn't do anyone any good. You have to wonder what sort of person thinks that's a good way of making some cash on the side though. My real problem is with the industry itself, the conditions the animals are kept in, and that no thought is put into how many unwanted animals are produced each year as a by-product. I just don't think it's right that they should be able to brush under the carpet what happens to the dogs when they come to the end of their working lives. The dogs should be accounted for, even if they do end up being put down. Obviously it would be better if all the dogs could be re-homed, but in practice if 10,000 are retired each year, that's going to be impossible. Which is why I think anything that would require that many animals to be put down each year, is intrinsically wrong and should be stopped. But then I believe using animals for sport/entertainment is wrong anyway and I'll happily admit to holding very strong views on this subject.
I'd actually have less of a problem with it, if the dogs that were too old to race were fed (no pun intended) into the food chain, it would be less of a waste than just burying their carcasses. Though again I wouldn't eat them personally, unless I knew the conditions they had been reared in were acceptable. I also suspect that greyhound would be rather tough but then that's what casseroles are for...
no subject
Date: 2006-07-18 04:31 pm (UTC)