Pig farming in New Zealand
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/animal-welfare/news/article.cfm?c_id=119&objectid=10573019
So one of the big headlines in the national paper today is about a SAFE report on a current affairs show last night about shocking pig farming standards in certain farms in New Zealand. This, while not big news to us here in the non-animal-consuming community, has caused quite a stir in New Zealand, as many people here have the idea that we "don't do" battery/cage farming, and that because we have so much farm land, all our farmed animals have great paddocks to roam in and live happy lives .
There have been lots of comments in support of SAFE, the further investigation of these farms, boycotting/banning of pork products, and the animal rights movement generally, which, of course, is fantastic. How much of this will actually translate into any action at all, is, unfortunately another question altogether.
There have also been some shockingly ignorant/arrogant/ill informed comments to come out as well:
"Totally agree that the farming practises (worldwide) are a disgrace, however until something is done by the government to reduce the price difference between free range and "farmed" the option of choosing the most ethical option is just not available to most of us. "
"These animals die so that I may eat them. Be it beef, pork, chicken, at the end of it all they all die and I am comfortable with that. I am a meat eater.
What I am not comfortable with, and what I find extremely hypocritical are the media that continue to use these sensational headlines to sell story and people who think that making these animals life easier on their eyes somehow make the end result okay - the butchering of the animals so that they may eat them.
How they live makes little difference when they die. I do not care for such sensational story that media creates and well, it looks like cheaper pork for people like me if people actually feel so strongly as they appear to in this forum."
"I am already very comfortable with the concept that animals and plants will die for my benefit, so I can eat, wear clothes and live in houses. I care not how they die, and frankly, I find scaremongering like this story more sickening, then the concept that things will die, so that I can live comfortably.
I also find vegetarians hypocritical in taking a life from a plant, because they feel that plants are okay to kill. True vegetarians should only live on synthetic foods, and never use any wood products, because lumber is nothing but trees killed for the benefit of man."
I guess I just saw all this and thought it might be a starting point for some discussion...
lots of people are uncaring, idiotic, assholes. for some people, it doesnt matter how disgusting the events are that they contribute to.. just as long as they can have their bacon.
Plus comments on newspaper/news source pages tend to be people trying too hard to be "edgy" or insulting because they're usually anonymous forums. I mean, I use phrases like "I care not about this or that" but that's because I go around most of the time with my head tightly wedged in the 18th century. But for a normal person to say in writing "I care not how they die" sounds a little...well, attention-getting more than real feeling.
lots of people are uncaring, idiotic, assholes. for some people, it doesnt matter how disgusting the events are that they contribute to.. just as long as they can have their bacon.
Unfortunately, I think you've got it, right there. My money's on the news attention dying away quickly, and all the self-righteous 'oh no, pork, no, we don't do pork anymore' posturing will be forgotten and people will go back to eating their cruelty-infused bacon with impunity.
Gah, we really do come from the crappest species.
I'm a bit meh about the whole thing...great that it's in the media, great that they're talking about it at work, great that it might make a difference...but will it actually?
Mike King - should have done his research before putting his face on pork products, though kudos for changing sides publicly and speaking out.
Also, those comments look like they were made by pretentious neanderthals.
The sad thing is that even those people who "don't do pork anymore" as a result of this thing will probably prove to be just as pretentious and won't stick to it like you said.