Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows

[ToBScholarly]

I heard this on the radio the other day and found it pretty interesting. I could not find a transcribed version so you'd have to listen to the interview if you are interested. LINKIE

On the show's website for that day's programming, there were many comments that I really liked reading as well. Kinda arguing the other side. LINKIE #2

And apparently NPR is on a roll with this whole humane food thing, because a few short days later, they threw this on FB: VENISION - It's What's For Dinner

Just some food for thought - hee hee. Read it if you like. Comment if you want. No pressure here.

[Baroooo]

We do eat venison off our land. I figure I feed them flowers, shrubs and my vegetable garden all year, one of them can fill my freezer to pay it back. I actually prefer the lower fat, no antibiotics, etc. of our venison to feed lot beef. There is a HUGE local deer herd that needs to be responsibly managed. I've seen starving deer, and no animal should ever have to go through that. For vegans on the board, I totally respect your choice. I just couldn't do it myself.
Let the fireworks begin! lol

[IlliniJeeper]

Deer jerky is delicious.

So is Deer Sausage. And deer steak. And Deer brats.

As someone who has had his fair share of close calls with deer on the roads, I'm all for responsible hunting. Like Barooooo said, no animal should have to endure starvation because of a lack of human intervention.

[krb0471]

If was part of my culture I'd prob have no issue eating dog, cat, guinea pig or what ever. But since I was raised here those are "pets", not food. As for venison, most wild game is pretty tasty. If I was literally starving to death, I have no prob eating the neighbors obese labs.

[Baroooo]

They'd be nicely marbled?
(ok, my sense of humour is a tad warped)

[mezmerelda]

Mmmm, marbled Labs.

I am fairly certain that I have tried dog, but it was on a trip to Korea in 2002. Not something I'd seek out, but when in a country where it's the norm, it's ok. We avoided guinea pig (aka cuy) in Peru last year, but not because they are pets. I'd been told by quite a few people that it was not good. I looked everywhere for a place that had a small dish or appetizer with it, but not luck. I wasn't wasting a meal on it.

[Kodiak]

My family and my husband's family both hunt deer. There are so dang many here, they kill a hand full of people annually in vehicle/deer collisions, and if they arent kept in check, horrible diseases start to wipe out the herds, and starvation kills many. Watching disease wipe out these populations is gruesome at best...farmers will find heaps of dead fawns in fields etc.

I do wonder what dog tastes like. I dont think I will ever actively try to find out though. If given the opportunity, I'd probably decline.

[ToBScholarly]

so why do people, other than George Clooney, not have pigs for pets? Why dogs but not pigs?

[Kodiak]

I would love a pot belly. My aunt had a home-kept black pot bellied pig for YEARS.

[Baroooo]

I've always liked pigs and thought a pet pig would be super. Sadly, no-one I've ever lived with has agreed! Pigs have personality plus. I think part of it is we're caught up in fur/fluffy = cute. Pigs are somewhat fur challenged. Bristles aren't very cuddly.

[NickandNora'smom]

I was a vegetarian for a while but I married a carnivore and gave it up. The more I learn about how meat is processed, the more I think about going back to veggies. The hardest thing for me to give up is seafood, but honestly, chicken, beef, pork, bleh, wouldn't miss 'em.

[ToBScholarly]

How about THIS NOTION then? Plants feel pain.

[Hounds_N_Leo]

I figure if I died in the house, and no one else came for several days, my dogs would eat me without a thought.

I would them (or some random dog) too actually if I or my kiddos, were starving or if it were the only option. Kind of under the same circumstances as they would really. All's fair in predator relations.

The Aboriginies on a show I watched hunted cats (vermin there) and cooked them over a fire. It was very odd looking but the meat seemed to be white and succulent appearing on TV. Very interesting.

[Swissy Mom]

How about THIS NOTION then? Plants feel pain.

I have a suicidal aloe plant. Every so often it pushes itself out of the window....so I turn it and it might do it again a day or two later and this might go on for a week or so...then it settles down and decides life is worth living after all...at least for a while...

[ToBScholarly]

Are you mixing in some Prozac with the Miracle Grow? It may help.