Innocent Animals
Severed cow's head used in Malaysian protest
In a rather gruesome incident twelve Muslims have been charged in Malaysia with illegal assembly and six of them have been charged with sedition, which is defined as an act that may engender "feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races", after parading a severed cow's head in a protest against the planned relocation of a Hindu temple to their neighborhood.
"I say, if you eat animals, you eat animals."
A LA Times article on September 4, 2009 was about a Korean vegetarian's efforts to garner signatures for a petition to stop the eating of dog meat in Korea. In the past westerner's have criticized the eating of dogs as inhumane, but Koreans have tended to disregard that as being merely hypocritical opinion. One government official who eats dog meat stated "Westerners eat one type of animal and tell the world they can't eat another. I say, if you eat animals, you eat animals."
Real murder: what happens at a slaughterhouse
Following on from my blog post about the "murder" at the Nanakuli animal shelter, here is an account from Wikipedia of the mass murder process at a slaughterhouse (this is not for the faint of heart):
The slaughterhouse process differs by species and region and may be controlled by civil law as well as religious laws such as Kosher and Halal laws. A typical procedure follows:
Cattle (mostly steers and heifers, some cows, and even fewer bulls) are received by truck or rail from a ranch, farm, or feedlot.
Cattle are herded into holding pens.
Alleged murder of animals at Nanakuli animal shelter
Front page news today is about an ex-caretaker of 400 animals claiming he is the victim of a vendetta by the Humane Society. He and his wife operated a non profit animal shelter at Nanakuli, after his wife died it apparently got too much for him so he asked for help from the Oahu Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who came and got the animals. The SPCA does not euthanize animals, unlike the Humane Society, though the Humane Society state on their website in the Q & A's about this matter:
Question: What is the Humane Society’s euthanasia policy on animals?
Meet your Meat
A number of Down to Earth team members have taken advantage of our offer to pay for their ticket to go and see "Food, Inc." showing at Kahala Mall. One leaves the movie feeling a little sick, and not feeling good about the food supply, especially about how the animals are treated. This type of food production is relatively new, having occurred over the past 50 or so years. The long term health and societal effects are yet to be realized. I encourage everyone to see the movie, especially Down to Earth team members.
The cause is the factory farms, the government solution, kill deer, squirrels, and other wildlife!
Congress passed the Food Safety Enhancement Act today. This bill creates big administrative and cost burdens and new problems for small farmers and in particular organic farmers. Everyone is in favor of food safety, who isn't. But the real culprit is the big agribusiness factory farms (which create the environment for E coli to flourish), not the small organic producers, yet this bill imposes onerous requirements on small family organic farmers which won't lead to any increase in food safety, just more costs, and more bureaucracy.
Food Inc. starts showings Kahala Mall this Friday, July 31
Food, Inc., the movie that shows how the food industry really works starts at Kahala Mall this Friday, July 31, 2009.
"Objecting to fun was silly"
Back to my favorite story, the Wienermobile. There was a letter to the editor in the Honolulu Advertiser today. Unfortunately, it wasn't from me or any of my friends, so instead of saying how great it was to have a law that banned the Wienermobile, it said the Outdoor Circle came off looking silly to object to the Wienermobile. Here are some highlights:
Wienermobile in the news again
In the big news of the day the Wienermobile is in violation of state law and could be fined if it comes to Hawaii again, the fine for a first violation is between $200 - $1,000 and $5,000 for subsequent offenses.
Dog butcher - should have received more punishment!
I should have added to my blog post about the dog butcher that it is horrific what they did and in one sense the fact that so many other animals are cruelly mistreated does not actually have anything to do with it. Some commentators on the post think the punishment for the butchers should have been more severe, not to worry, under the laws of karma, "as you sow, so shall you reap" every activity has a consequence, if we take a life, so in the future our life shall be taken in the same manner.