In regards to the humane keeping of meat animals, specifically pigs, I should also note that large outside pig pens are not feasible in all parts of the country. Pigs are highly susceptible to heat related illnesses. Whereas, in the Arizona desert, I can keep my horses in dirt paddocks throughout the summer months as long as they have access to shade and water, pigs would have a much harder time. It gets well over 100 degrees in the shade here and apparently pigs are less able to deal with that kind of heat. Because of that pigs are often kept, and rightly so, in climate controlled buildings.
The problems enter when too many pigs are kept per indoor pen, or sows are kept in "crates" where they can't turn around and can't even stretch their legs out when they lie down. There is a certain amount of sense in confining a sow after she has given birth, simply because, even though we're told they are highly intelligent, a sow will lie down on and crush her piglets. Again, however, there's no need in forcing her to lie down in a scrunched up position or not be able to turn around.
I feel like there is a half-way mark that can be reached here between the farmers and the activists.
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Some people are like slinkies. They don't have a purpose But they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs
Shannon, I found this little article today and thought of you and your question about food animal housing. The part about the animals comes at the end. I don't remember if you're another Harry Potter fan or not, but I remember there was someone on SQ's board that is. If any person of liberal leanings is not a Harry Potter fan by now, you should be LOL. They are highly political, as well as spiritual (encompassing all world religions) books. The author, JK Rowling, flat came out and said in an interview that the U.S. needed to put a Democrat in the White House for the sake of the world. I wish they'd been more successful with the propositions. Anyway, here's the article:
"The Harry Potter Alliance, a social activist network which, among other things, runs Wrock the Vote, has been out there encouraging fans of the series to register to vote, and to vote in the spirit of J.K. Rowling's series.
Organizer Andrew Slack told MTV News that the Wrock the Vote initiative, in addition to registering "close to 900" voters, has been contacting "tens of thousands" of voters in each state about various ballot initiatives, both by phone and by text. The HP Alliance, however, is not endorsing a Presidential candidate, but they are endorsing "keeping love legal," Slack said.
"We are asking people to vote on on propositions that would take away same-sex marriage," Slack explained. "We talk about the importance of how J.K. Rowling says that Harry Potter is an extended argument in favor of tolerance. When Lupin, a werewolf, was afraid that his marriage to Tonks, a full-blood witch, would be considered unnatural, Professor McGonagall fires back that Dumbledore would have been happier than anyone to see a little more love in the world." (Dumbledore, himself, as we later learned, was also gay). (For California, that's a no on Proposition 8. In Florida, no on Question 2. In Arizona, no on Proposition 102).
If the last endorsement was in honor of Dumbledore, the next one is in honor of Hagrid and Care of Magical Creatures. The HP Alliance is also asking Californians to vote yes on Proposition 2, which would require that farm animals penned in cages not be so confined that they be allowed to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs, and turn around freely. (This would affect chickens, pigs, and calves).
"I happen to be a meat eater," Slack said, "but I don't want the animals who were killed to have lived a life of torture, unable to move or given any sense of freedom. Further, it makes meat less safe for all meat eaters. Hagrid would hope for no less!"
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Some people are like slinkies. They don't have a purpose But they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs
