Friday, February 1, 2013

Scout, a meat animal? No he is not!
Today  as I was heading home from a trip into Austin ,I heard an interesting story on  NPR.

Seems  there was a meat supplier that got caught adding horse meat into beef.

OK to eat
The people interviewed were absolutely disgusted,  mortified, shocked. You would have thought they had found out that they had been slipped, oh I don't know... their pet dog or something.

Myself ...I have wondered what is it that makes us
consider some animals fit for slaughter and others
blessed as pet material.

I.Q.? Obviously not, as far as I know pigs are certainly smarter than dogs and their fates are far different. OK, I get the dogs as pets. So I will leave them alone.

Please understand, I was a vegetarian for years out of respect for animals, and my concern for their treatment. I don't want horses to be slaughtered and eaten, but I find it fascinating how we are able to
rationalize the way certain animals are exploited and others are revered.

Right now I am drying off my cows in anticipation of calves. So I have been having to buy dairy products.
As I make my selection of milk or yogurt I find myself wondering about how those poor dairy cows are
living. I hope for the best, but I know that their fate is not happy. I know they do not have their calves with them, I know they are not laying in the sun enjoying each others company while they chew their cud.
Yet horses, for the most part live their  lives as pets.... I just am not certain why the difference.

Yes, you can ride horses, and they are beautiful but name any animal that is not as much a miracle.
When I watch my cows graze, they are every bit as bucolic a scene as any horse picture.

You know what I am adding to my list of goals? My sort of wish list so to speak?
"Novellas Dairy with a Heart"... milk from  cows who stay with their calves, lay in the sun.. I think the world is changing and the time is right.