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Location: Warwickshire
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,844
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Originally Posted by
Tarimoor
I made the point that people have what I refer to as 'supermarket ethics', ie they like to think they don't condone cruelty, and it's easy to look at fox hunting and say it's cruel and should be banned, and meanwhile do nothing else within your own lifestyle that would affect you personally but feel very good about some of your values, there are (unfortunately) plenty of folk that do. I've been indiscussion on other forums where people are vehemently against fox hunting, and yet too poor to afford anything except two for a fiver chickens and battery farmed hens eggs. For me, it's a lifestyle choice, and I personally find it very hypocritical for someone to spout against what they perceive as cruelty on the one hand, and yet still be happy to support other forms of cruelty so as not to impact on their lifestyle.
I hope that makes sense?
Vegetarianism is a difficult one, I'm aware, as I'm sure many vegetarians are, that much of the produce is imported, and that it's difficult to eat just seasonal produce and not support poor farming practices, including soya production which has seen great areas of rain forest in Southern America disappear. In a way, although indirectly, many vegetarians support animal cruelty, and many are happy to do so without actually knowing, or researching, because ignorance is bliss.
As I said previously on this thread, and have done on others, I'm not particularly pro hunting, nor am I really against it, I think there are more important issues to worry about in life, more difficult problems to solve. What I do hate is the humanisation people put to hunting, and hunting with dogs. Animals live every day with the threat of death hanging over them, foxes didn't all suddenly start trotting around knowing that they weren't hunted, and they still live with that predator/prey survival instinct, although I will add the proviso that urban foxes seem to be evolving into a different creature from rural foxes, much bolder, larger and unfortunately I fear more disease ridden from the sheer numbers of them now.
Unfortunately, the side effect of the hunting ban has been a number of law suits taken to the courts, nothing to do with fox hunting, but other pursuits involving hunting with dogs, such as ratting, rabbiting etc. I've even seen instances where people training their dogs for shooting, have been threatened with calling the police as it's an illegal activity (apparently). The law as it stands seems to be unworkable, and for that reason, I hope it's repealed.
Yes, it does. I was writing my post late at night and I knew from following the thread for a while that someone, somewhere, had mentioned about supermarket ethics but I was too tired to go back and find it
I agree, I think it is hypocritical to be anti fox hunting and then to eat eggs from battery hens and foods from other intensively reared animals. I included that part in my post because to me, whether the animal is wild, domestic or farm, its quality of life is important to me. So yes, I very much understand why you bought it into the thread.
I accept your point about soy, but I will say that (1) as far as I am aware, the vast majority of soy is imported as animal feed and (2) although I do eat quorn products and the like, they account for a very small part of my diet. So yes, again I agree that it is contributing to deforestation and no that is not right at all but if vegetarians stopped consuming it all together we would still be importing almost as much to feed the animals destined to be eaten.
Again, I agree with you that foxes and other animals live with the constant threat of death be that from another animal, man or a car.
One aspect of fox hunting that I find particularly distasteful though is the pleasure that it seems to bring to some people. Killing a fox that has been killing a farmers stock is a necessary task, not something that needs to be enjoyed and celebrated by other people. Yes, I can understand the farmer thinking 'thank goodness it's dead' but why do some many other people take such pleasure in celebrating an animal's death? Some time ago I was coming back from a bike ride and found a frog in the middle of the road, one of it's back legs had been completely crushed and it was crawling around in circles quite pathetically
I couldn't let it continue to suffer like that, so I swiftly killed it. I will say that I felt a momentary relief afterwards that the animal was no longer suffering but I gained no pleasure from killing it, neither did my husband from watching me do it. It was a task that needed to be done, pure and simple, not something to be celebrated.