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CVA Blog
Monday, 13 August 2007
Animals
Welcome to the weekly CVA blog! In it you will find famous quotes, news and commentaries.
1. Animal Welfare is Hot Topic
2. Famous quote – Rev. Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847), Scottish Presbyterian, Prof. of Moral Philosophy, St. Andrew’s University
3. Sharks Closer to Extinction
4. Bible verse – 1 Samuel 16:7
5. A Steer Who Escaped Slaughter
1. Animal Welfare is Hot Topic: An LA Times article published on July 2 states that Americans are thinking more than ever where and how their food is produced. Consequently, agribusinesses are being pressured to make changes to meet the customers' demands, such as Tyson Foods Inc. transitioning to antibiotic-free chickens, and farmers changing how they treat their animals. However, Peter Singer, bioethics professor at Princeton University, believes that "Change, whether it is in the way meat-producing animals are raised or the conditions in which hens lay their eggs, is likely to come slowly."
To read the full article please visit Animal welfare issue boiling.
In Australia, a similar tendency is observed: Livestock producers face animal welfare challenges
Hopefully, more people will realize everyday that their choice of food products has tremendous influence on the way the meat industry does business. We can choose compassion over cruelty by not supporting the exploitation of God’s animals raised for food. In turn, we’d be reflecting God’s love for all Creation.
2. "The brute animals have all the same sensations of pain as human beings, and consequently endure as much pain when their body is hurt; but in their case the cruelty of torment is greater, because they have no mind to bear them up against their sufferings, and no hope to look forward to when enduring the last extreme pain."
~ Rev. Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847), Scottish Presbyterian, Prof. of Moral Philosophy, St. Andrew’s University3. Sharks Closer to Extinction: Overfishing of sharks for their fins might lead them to extinction within a generation. Peter Knights, executive director of WildAid, said: "These animals have been here for 400 million years and they may disappear in one generation, not to provide people with basic food, but for a solely luxury item." Aside from the belief that it is good for the health, shark fin is traditionally served in soup at Chinese wedding banquets and occasions when the host wants to impress guests with expensive dishes.
To read the full article please visit Group says sharks face extinction due to fin soup
The possible extinction of some shark species due to indiscriminate exploitation for reasons other than survival shows no regard for God’s love for them. We are called to be good stewards of God’s Creation, and unless some measures are taken rapidly and we stop exploiting them, we will have to deal with the consequences of our actions and failures.
4. (RSV) 1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."Our appearance and possessions say little about our beliefs and Faith. God is concerned about our actions that reflect what it’s on our heart. Let our actions and thoughts be compassionate and loving toward all Creation.
5. A Steer Who Escaped Slaughter: The news of a steer in Long Island, who captured the attention of people by escaping a terrifying and fatal fate at an abattoir, prompted Ralph R. Acampora, associate professor of philosophy at Hofstra University, to write an article about the ethical relativism of raising animals for food. He talks about the "(dis)assembly line" at slaughterhouses and encourages readers to visit one and see for themselves the horrifying end farmed animals suffer. Acampora also notes the subtle tucking away of killing and corpse-processing plants to the renaming of animals' body parts once they are offered for consumption: steak and beef - never steer or cow; sausage, pork, bacon - not pig.
To read the full article please visit The steer who escaped into our conscience
Most of us would be horrified if presented with the images of the procedures during life and death to which we subject farmed animals. It’s not surprise then, that the meat and dairy industries do their best to hide from the consumer the reality of animal agriculture. Therefore, it is the consumer that has the responsibility to make informed choices when buying animal products. These choices should ideally be prompted by a sense of compassion and justice.
6. New American Carnivore: James LaVeck and Jenny Stein, producers of award-winning documentaries The Witness and Peaceable Kingdom, and founders of Tribe of Heart (www.tribeofheart.org) write a compelling essay describing the animal advocacy movement mainly in the agribusiness sector in the last decade. They describe the increase in "neo-carnivores", people who once vegetarian decide to go back to meat-eating although supporting supposedly humane animal husbandry methods. Although they recognize that less abuse is definitely a good thing, they ask what happened to veganism being a "moral and ethical imperative, a commitment to not participate in the exploitation of others nor to cooperate with those who do".
To read this thought-provoking article please visit Project for the New American Carnivore
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