I went to an animal rights conference earlier this year and a woman from the Vegetarian Society talked about how people who are vegetarians for health reasons and environmental reasons generally would go right back to eating meat if they discovered some health benefits or figured out some sustainable way of farming it – and that’s so true, which is a shame because people ought to be doing it for the sake of looking after innocent animals.
Here are a few posts by Bridget Saunders that I really respect:
I remember years ago in Papua New Guinea, being out on some super $$$ game fishing launch with a bunch of Aussies. I was there because it was beautiful being out on the water, but they were there to catch marlin and sailfish.
They caught one too. And lots of beers were drunk in disgusting celebration. I was really upset, which was totally pointless and useless. But they hadn’t killed it because they needed to eat. They had killed it for fun! Go figure!
Some years before that, I had been out night fishing (this was before my ecological concerns were fully formed) with some Chinese friends who were hell fisherman.
I got the biggie though. It was something massive. We turned the boat’s floodlights into the water but could see nothing. I couldn’t pull whatever it was up, because it was so big, so the guys all gathered around and pulled and pulled too. And some of these were really big, mixed-race hunks. They were blown away by my catch. The whole boat was in awe as to what the hell this thing could be. As we hauled away, something deep down came into view. We hauled more and it loomed immense in the farther reaches of the floodlights. Then, as we strained, we got it into view.
A whale? Nope.
Giant shark? No
Sea monster? Uh-uh.
It broke the surface and we could see it was a ray. A giant ray. And it had had its “wings” out horizontally, during the haul to the surface, which is why it had seemed so gargantuan.
So there it was, on the surface, a big hook in its mouth. We looked at it. And I looked at the guys. What do we do with a giant ray?
Easy. One of them pulled out a knife, cut the fishing line, and set the creature free to swim away. But with a very damaged mouth and probably highly traumatised. I have wondered ever since if it survived.
People seem to assume that fish are swimming vegetables and insensitive to pain, but the latest research shows otherwise.
Dr Donald Broom, scientific adviser to the British government, explains, “The scientific literature is quite clear. Anatomically, physiologically and biologically, the pain system in fish is virtually the same as in birds and mammals”.
And in 2003, scientists at the University of Edinburgh concluded that fish clearly experience pain in the same way as mammals, both physically and psychologically.
Like “higher vertebrates”, they have neurotransmitters which relieve suffering and the only reason for a nervous system to produce painkillers is to relieve pain. Claiming that fish do not suffer is as intellectually and scientifically sound as arguing that the Earth is flat.
How do we avoid heart disease if eating fish is unethical? The answer is to replace your fish intake with nuts. Consuming about 30 grams of nuts per day at least five days a week can halve the risk of having a heart attack. No other single component of diet has been shown to be as effective.
Back in 1999 Karremann found that two million dog and cat skins annually find their way into Britain, Germany, France, and Italy.
I have to say that I do not think it is any worse to treat cats and dogs like this than any other type of animal because they all feel the same pain – but it is more emotionally shocking.
The skins mostly come from northern China, where dog pelts are sold for about $8 each, and cat skins can cost as little as 50c. They are killed in the winter when their fur is thickest.
Karremann found that some of these animals are farmed, some are stolen pets and some are rounded up as strays. The farmed ones are particularly unlucky. One dog farm had live dogs in the middle of the northern Chinese winter in a bitterly cold shed, without food or water, tethered by thin metal wires and surrounded by the bodies of dead dogs hanging on hooks. Those that were destined to be eaten “fresh” were put into sacks and taken to restaurants. One investigator saw a dog pulled out of a sack at a restaurant that wagged his tail! He was slaughtered by being stabbed in the groin and the other dogs in the sack could hear his cries as he slowly died while they waited their turn.
My friend has a beagle and he’s so cute. Here’s a gorgeous photo of him:
One time we went for a walk together and he ran on ahead… Later when we called out to him he turned around a looked at us, but then continued going on! So we chased after him, but as soon as he realised we were chasing him he thought we had wanted to play so started running away even faster! It was so much fun.
Unfortunately there is a company that uses beagles for experiments here in New Zealand, which just makes you devastated to hear. Please visit SAFE’s website on this issue for more information.
