No, I don’t have any regrets about eating animals.

[FortCluck]

I must be either nieve, lucky, or both. I've been reading this website for years, fairly thoroughly, and I can't remember the last time anyone came to the meat bird section and complained about us eating meat.
I'm also going to have to read up on rule #11.
I can't imagine anyone being "offended" by a statement of belief that we are created... any more than a person of faith should be offended by a statement of someone's non belief.

It happened yesterday asking if we feel bad for having meat birds. It's done and over with though, the thread got locked so no more posts can be done.

 

[goldysgirl]

At our friend’s Sunday dinner we ate beaver..tasted like roast beef...lol...I raise chickens, rabbits and ducks that started out to be eaten...we have only eaten a few. But as winter comes due, we will be forced to reduce a few, we have more than 100 animals....that doesn’t mean I will enjoy it..I was raised eating venison and wild rabbit and duck..but it is totally different once it’s your own animals. Something, as a new farmer, I have to come to terms with.

I don't know what most of the big words mean on this thread I should have finished school

There's always Google. That's what I do

 

[slbenter]

Guess I missed it.

 

[lomine]

Oh and I’m also pro-fur and guilt free, haters, come one, come all.
Trappers work hard to harvest it, ethically, harvest numbers are monitored and controlled, fur pieces can be recycled several times into other items and after that it can go in the compost pile and back to the earth.

Fake fur? Made of oil, (and I won’t even go into how bad that all is for the planet!), when washed fake fur sheds micro plastics, which goes into the watershed to cause more pollution, and in the end when it wears out you take it to the dump.

I've been raising sheep this year, for the first time ever. They were purchased to keep my pasture trimmed and with the intent of butchering at the end of the year. Part way through I thought about how soft their fur is (they're a hair-type not wool-type breed) and how it would be a waste to toss it. So I've decided to try and tan the hides. Never done anything like it but I feel like it's more respectful to at least try and maybe I'll have some soft sheep skin rugs for the dogs to enjoy. My mother thinks its weird (maybe a bit morbid ). Maybe it is weird but the idea appeals to me.

 

[goldysgirl]

I don't regret eating animals, either. I love trying new animals on the dinner plate. I'll eat almost anything. Toasted mealworms, elk, kangaroo, alligator, antelope, octopus, crickets, tiny little whole roasted baby crabs (you eat them shell and all!), deer, I've had all that. There are so many meats I'd love to try....zebra, capybara, squirrel, dog, horse, guinea pig, that really-tasty sauce made out of waterbugs that certain Asian countries make, I'm always up for new taste treats (everything in my want-to-try list is on the menu in countries around the world).

I don't feel bad about it....well, not too much. I actually do feel sort of bad when I eat Octopus, because they're so intelligent, curious and personable.

I'll most likely even eat my pet chickens one day. I know that sounds cruel, but I'm really curious as to what home-grown chicken tastes like (they'll have to be made into soup, as I want to keep them long enough to get eggs). Well...not Falcon. I can't eat Falcon (my EE). She's way too awesome and acts too much like a likeable human. But Salt and Pepper (my silver and gold-laced Wyandottes), they've bitten me enough times to where I won't mind eating them in chicken soup!

OK, I guess I've said too much.

I could never eat a dog. I think my dog has the intelligence of a 2-3 year-old human. He doesn't speak English, but we share our own little language. He gestures with his eyes and movements to tell me when he wants something. He feels happiness, sadness, and anxiety, and he dreams at night. He dedicates his whole life to being my companion and protector. I think the bond between humans and dogs is sacred. A relationship formed over thousands of years together. I could never eat one unless I was starving, and I think it would have to be a nasty dog haha. To me dogs are people, too. Ok, I admit, I am a crazy dog lady!!! This is an interesting thread. Fun to respectfully share opinions and ideas.

 

[goldysgirl]

I've been raising sheep this year, for the first time ever. They were purchased to keep my pasture trimmed and with the intent of butchering at the end of the year. Part way through I thought about how soft their fur is (they're a hair-type not wool-type breed) and how it would be a waste to toss it. So I've decided to try and tan the hides. Never done anything like it but I feel like it's more respectful to at least try and maybe I'll have some soft sheep skin rugs for the dogs to enjoy. My mother thinks its weird (maybe a bit morbid ). Maybe it is weird but the idea appeals to me.

Great idea! I think it is respectful to the animal to use a much as possible.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I am loving this thread! So many thoughts and opinions! I only regret that it is moving so fast I can't respond to all the comments I want to, haha! Peepsi said something back there that made me laugh, she often does, but now I can't remember what it was.

I want to know more about the hairy sheep ... and I think it only makes sense to use as much of the animal as possible, why wouldn't you?

We think it is weird that anyone would eat dog, but there are some people groups that are horrified that we eat cows. ....

Thank you for the info on fake fur, I am horrified! Talk about "grasping at straws..." it seems there is such emphasis on outlawing drinking straws (and yes, they are part of the problem), but seriously, they are the tip of the tip of the iceberg, there is so much more we could be doing. Water bottles, maybe .... but I digress. Again. Sorry.

 

[Mak24456]

Haven't seen many (or any) vegetarian opinions here, so perhaps I should add mine.
Someone was talking about the system earlier... where our entire society is based off non renewable resources and the consumption of living things. This is a fact, sadly.

I don't particularly mind the fact that meat eaters kill animals in order to eat them or use their skins. It makes sense to eat meat. I enjoy meat still, on the extremely rare occasion that I may try a family member's dish in a restaurant for example. What bothers me is the abuse and environmental damage the factory farming industry generates. Sows crammed in crates where they can't turn around, forced to have piglets over and over. Several hens in one battery cage that need their beaks cut off so they won't kill each other out of stress and aggression. Cows standing in their own filth, forced to eat corn instead of grass on barren lots. The animal waste is toxic and pollutes waterways, cows produce a large chuck of methane in the atmosphere, land is cleared in order to create fields to grow animal feed. Instead of using arable land to grow plants for humans, we use it to grow food for animals. Most of the food animals heat is converted to heat energy - and as you move up a trophic level more food is needed to sustain an animal. This means growing animals is a lot less efficient, land and water wise.

Though as a single individual I can't do much to remedy this, choosing not to eat meat helps make my contribution to the destruction of the planet just a little smaller, and I can rest easy knowing that I'm not contributing to the suffering of animals in factory farms. In fact, the reason I raise chickens is so I don't have to buy eggs produced by hens in tiny cages. So it isn't a meat problem for me (and many other vegetarians), it's more of an ethical/environmental problem. If I were ever in the position to raise my own meat, on healthy land in a sustainable manner, I'd be happy to eat it.

 

[Coopscraft]

Quail.

I curious, what advantages do quail provide? I don’t know anyone who keeps them. When I was a toddler my dad used to apply birdshot to wild ones in the front yard. But that was 40 years ago.

 

[Coopscraft]

I think people say vegan and don't even truly know what veganism entails. Veganism isn't just food, it's an entire lifestyle. No animals products or tests products anywhere. Half the people that claim to be vegan aren't due to the products in their households.

I don't think anyone should be telling someone they have to eat one way or another. I can't stand when people hear I'm plant based and try to push meat eating at me... LIKE NO! I don't do it to save all the animals of the world, I do it for health reasons. People need to calm down with telling people what's good or bad for their body... It's not your body so who cares!

And even after avoiding all the animal testing etc, are we avoiding any product transported at a speed that kills bugs? I draw the line at humans. Other than humans, “there’s room for all God’s creatures right beside the tubors and legumes.”