- May 24, 2011
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Pet: a domestic or tamed animal or bird kept for companionship or pleasure and treated with care and affection.
That is the basic definition of the world pet. I don't have any ethical issues with eating my pets if that is the case (as I do take pleasure in owning chickens and would even if they served a secondary purpose, and I do care for them). Could i stomach it? Probably not. That doesn't make it wrong. I think to take it to an extreme and say anyone who doesn't just raise poultry for livestock with the intention of killing them is wrong. Different strokes for different folks. In many cultures they eat dogs or cats or horses. That doesn't make it wrong for me to refrain from ringing my poor hound's neck. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean you have to. So if you don't want to eat your chickens, then don't, and if you do, there is no reason to feel bad about it.
Also there was a comment in one of the posts above that talked about livestock and pets being sold in different stores. I've never seen a pet store sell any (aside from maybe koi) outdoor pets. Pet stores cater to people that live in cities. As it is, chickens aren't a very common pet for urban areas (many people are under the impression they smell, are extremely loud, and will give you some sort of disease the second you look at them). So why would they stock a product that just won't move off of their shelves? That doesn't mean chickens can't be pets. They sell bunnies, some people eat bunnies. Does that mean, now that the species is sold in pet stores, that they're no longer fit to eat? Stores will sell what people in their area will buy. That doesn't necessarily define the product. My drug store sells cough medicine and bleach, but I don't guzzle Clorox like it is going out of style. When it comes down to it, chickens are animals and ANY tame or domesticated animal can be made into a pet.
I do, however, believe there is a difference between love and affection/care. The reason I didn't sell my horse to a slaughter house when he got arthritis is because I love him. Love is a more profound emotion and if you can kill and eat something, I don't think you really love it. Then again, who am I to try and define your definition of love?
Our morals surrounding animals are extremely convoluted. A while back I read a book by the title of Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat by Hal Herzog. The book has received mixed reviews but it is a real eye opener if you don't take it as seriously as religious text. I had a vegan friend at the time who was making me feel bad about eating meat and saying how could I love animals and consume them. I found this book on accident shortly after and I realized that our morals when it comes to animals are have been murky at best for many years. In the end, culture will decide a lot about how we feel about animals, but we personally have to make decisions on a lot of matters.
So I don't think it is wrong. Can I say, definitively, that it is? Of course not and no one has the right to make you feel bad if you don't share my opinion.
That is the basic definition of the world pet. I don't have any ethical issues with eating my pets if that is the case (as I do take pleasure in owning chickens and would even if they served a secondary purpose, and I do care for them). Could i stomach it? Probably not. That doesn't make it wrong. I think to take it to an extreme and say anyone who doesn't just raise poultry for livestock with the intention of killing them is wrong. Different strokes for different folks. In many cultures they eat dogs or cats or horses. That doesn't make it wrong for me to refrain from ringing my poor hound's neck. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean you have to. So if you don't want to eat your chickens, then don't, and if you do, there is no reason to feel bad about it.
Also there was a comment in one of the posts above that talked about livestock and pets being sold in different stores. I've never seen a pet store sell any (aside from maybe koi) outdoor pets. Pet stores cater to people that live in cities. As it is, chickens aren't a very common pet for urban areas (many people are under the impression they smell, are extremely loud, and will give you some sort of disease the second you look at them). So why would they stock a product that just won't move off of their shelves? That doesn't mean chickens can't be pets. They sell bunnies, some people eat bunnies. Does that mean, now that the species is sold in pet stores, that they're no longer fit to eat? Stores will sell what people in their area will buy. That doesn't necessarily define the product. My drug store sells cough medicine and bleach, but I don't guzzle Clorox like it is going out of style. When it comes down to it, chickens are animals and ANY tame or domesticated animal can be made into a pet.
I do, however, believe there is a difference between love and affection/care. The reason I didn't sell my horse to a slaughter house when he got arthritis is because I love him. Love is a more profound emotion and if you can kill and eat something, I don't think you really love it. Then again, who am I to try and define your definition of love?
Our morals surrounding animals are extremely convoluted. A while back I read a book by the title of Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat by Hal Herzog. The book has received mixed reviews but it is a real eye opener if you don't take it as seriously as religious text. I had a vegan friend at the time who was making me feel bad about eating meat and saying how could I love animals and consume them. I found this book on accident shortly after and I realized that our morals when it comes to animals are have been murky at best for many years. In the end, culture will decide a lot about how we feel about animals, but we personally have to make decisions on a lot of matters.
So I don't think it is wrong. Can I say, definitively, that it is? Of course not and no one has the right to make you feel bad if you don't share my opinion.
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