In an ideal world, “animal rescue” would be something done by Superman regarding a cat being stuck in a tree.
In our real world, “animal rescue” means saving animals from neglect, abandonment, and mistreatment.
As a confirmed carnivore, I’m not to going to address consumption of animals for food, except to say that those animals should be well-treated on their path to my dinner table.
I’m going to talk instead about animals that have been bred — as breeds and as individuals — to be cared for by humans. Animals that are abused. Animals that are abandoned (“Fluffy will do fine on her own — or maybe someone will find her and give her a good home”). Animals that are neglected. Greyhounds that are disposed of after their racing days are over. Rabbits that are gotten rid of when Little Billy decides that the “Easter present” isn’t any fun. Dogs bred in puppy mills, inbred or poorly cared for. Pet buyers who want the latest thing, but don’t think about how it will change their lives — and who then decide not to change said lives and get rid of the pet instead …
Unconscionable. We have a responsibility, dammit, to these critters. A basic ethical, moral, and even religious obligation to care for what we’ve wrought, to not treat these lives as mere ornaments to be discarded if broken or inconvenient. We need to (hu)man up and live up to what we’ve committed ourselves to, as individuals and as a species.
I’m not going PETA-crazy here. Given a choice between saving a kid falling off a cliff and saving the kid’s dog, it’s “So long, Rover.” But while there’s a lot we need to do to protect and nurture and feed and clothe humans, while we do so we have things we need to be doing for the animals entrusted to us.
That’s a big reason why I’m blogging in the Blogathon 2009 for the Denver Dumb Friends League, which takes in all sorts of abandoned pet animals, cares for them as it can, and tries mightily to get them adopted. They also have a very active spay/neuter program for dogs and cats, to reduce abandoned animals before they become abandoned. It’s a good cause, and I hope you’ll sponsor me.
I totally agree with you about companion animals, but wonder why you draw the line at and feel less responsibility toward the animals we raise as food, who are abused, neglected, and terrorized in far, far greater numbers. I dare you to spend an hour with a pig or a turkey and then say it’s less deserving of our care and concern than our dogs and cats.
Good for you for doing the blogathon!
What I actually said was:
I do not think that food animals should be “abused, neglected, and terrorized.” I think they should receive, as much as possible, humane treatment.
On the other hand, I also think it’s okay to eat them.
A lot of people say that they think food animals should be humanely raised, but then consume meat/milk/eggs that were *not* humanely raised. If you eat out anywhere, it’s just about guaranteed that the eggs you eat come from battery-caged hens, for example. And it also seems to me that eating the food makes the consumer complicit in the cruel treatment. But perhaps you are more conscious of where your food comes from than most.
I am not as conscious of it as I think I should be. I make some efforts, but I confess I am willing to let out of sight be out of mind in this category. I’m not particularly proud of that.
I wrestle with similar issues–for instance, I’m vegan, and am profoundly grateful that my own food choices aren’t contributing to farmed animal suffering. BUT I feed my cat meat. Not happy at all about that, but I figure her being a natural carnivore trumps my own values. I’m not sure the animals she eats would feel that way…