You know what? Anyone can point to an extreme and say that person at that end is wrong or the one at the other definetley has a screw loose. What I am trying to ask is that people stop being so judgemental about what is the only "right" way to view a chicken or other livestock animal. There is a lot of sterotyping that goes on in these discussions about people who treat thier animals like pets. I have kept poultry for 25 years. I have had dozens of other livestock animals. I am sophisticated enough to be able to view my animals as individuals and as livestock. I can understand thier general purpose and select breeder birds. But, I would never talk down to people who keep thier birds just as pets and insult them. I don't know them, how dare I make assumptions about thier maturity or thier quality of life? I am not talking about "extremists on either end of the spectrum, who are cruel. Leave that out of it, because that's not who we are talking about and I think that's just a way to try to discard the validity of the points of view of people who do things differently. I have spoken up because I feel that people are bashing others for caring for thier chickens in a different way and who have a different relationship with them. Showing chickens or raising them for a long time like I have does not make me the ultimate authority to name call others and to diss other people for how they relate to thier animals. Honestly, I don't understand the amount of venom I see spewed out against these people on a regular basis.
