Christian Vegetarian Association Blog


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CVA Blog
Monday, May 18, 2009

How Do We Relate to God’s Animals?

Welcome to the weekly CVA blog! In it you will find famous quotes, news and commentaries.

1. The Strive for Animal Welfare
2. Famous Quote – Temple Grandin,
3. Radlo Foods to Face out Battery Cages
4. Bible verse – Psalm 139:13-14
5. Shellfish Remember and Avoid Pain
6. This Week’s Video

1. The Strive for Animal Welfare

Nicholas D. Kristof, a columnist for The New York Times, writes about the increasing grass-roots efforts to promote animal welfare throughout the world. He refers to successes such as the stunning passage in California of Proposition 2 (banning factory farms from keeping calves, pregnant hogs or egg-laying hens in tiny pens or cages in which they can’t stretch out or turn around) and granting of basic legal rights to apes in Spain among other initiatives.

To read the full article please search online for Humanity even for non-humans

2. Famous Quote

"In my opinion, one of the greatest animal-welfare problems is the physical abuse of livestock during transportation.... Typical abuses I have witnessed with alarming frequency are; hitting, beating, use of badly maintained trucks, jabbing of short objects into animals, and deliberate cruelty."

~ Temple Grandin, Ph.D. writer and board mem. of U.S. meat industry's Livestock Conservation Institute and assistant Prof. of Animal Science at Colorado State Univ.

3. Radlo Foods to Face out Battery Cages

Radlo Foods has become the first national egg producer to commit to ending its confinement of hens in battery cages. Also, Radlo Foods terminated its relationship with Quality Egg of New England, where Mercy For Animals exposed grossly inhumane conditions for laying hens. According to CEO David Radlo, "We're proud to officially pledge to stop using cage confinement systems and implement a plan to become an exclusively cage-free company within ten years."

To read the full article please search online for Radlo Foods Becomes First National Egg Producer to Commit to Phasing out Battery Cage Confinement

4. Bible Verse

(RSV) Psalm 139:13-14
For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy works! Thou knowest me right well;

What a great feeling... we are made by God just as the rest of all creatures. We are expressions of God's love and creativity! Knowing this should encourage us to treat the rest of Creation with outmost respect and reverence.

5. Shellfish Remember and Avoid Pain

The presumption has been that crustaceans cannot experience pain and thus there is no protection for these animals. However, the results of a study carried out by researchers at Queen's University in Ireland indicate that shellfish are capable of consciously experiencing and remembering pain. The study involved hermit crabs who upon subjected to small electric shocks moved out of shells they inhabited so as to escape the sensation and later acted to avoid it.

To read the full article please search online for Crabs sense and remember pain

It seems that humans need a reason in order not to exploit God's animals, when our sacred duty as stewards of God's Creation should be enough. It is great, however, that science is helping humans understand more about the wonderful creatures God loves.

6. This Week’s Video

Watch this short eye-opening video where John Robbins, author of “Diet for a New America”, talks about the ethical aspects of eating animals and the miserable lives these animals endure. Please visit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbVRugmzuDs&feature=channel

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