Was just threatened by an 'animal rights activist'...

[irisshiller]

... because an egg broke. Seriously!!

I found a broken egg in my coop and posted a picture of it on my site, making a joke of it: who broke this egg??
Next thing I know, someone is telling me that I have to close down my pet zoo because all my animals are being savaged (we had a very sad incident a little while ago where our baby bunnies were killed by a feral cat). I told him it was only an egg... He said: "No, it's not! It's a potential chick! This should have been a living, breathing bird, and now this will never happen!" He was serious!
I'm speechless. I wonder what he would say if he knew I usually EAT my eggs??

Anyway it became very unpleasant. He threatened to send the animal inspection to me (not sure if this exists at all here...) and to close down my pet zoo. I blocked him and deleted the post, but I feel quite shaken.

Anyone ever experience anything like this..? How did you deal with it..?

:/ Iris.

 

[sunflour]

No experience…but there are a lot of weird folks in this world.

 

[familyfarm1]

What!

Wow that guy needs serious help!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Never. But the world is full of crazy people and getting worse the more unenlightened people become.

It is creepy though.
I think he needs a hobby.

I guess if a broody hen that sits on eggs a couple weeks and abandons them is on this person's hit list too.

 

[ChicKat]

Oh Iris,

so very sorry that you encountered 'a crazy'.

too bad that there are so many ignorant and uninformed people out there... wish you could sic him on a really true problem and his energy could go there....


Meanwhile - protect yourself. the internet is good and the internet is bad. You were smart to block him -- If possible increase the protections that you may have on your blog or website if this is practical....and for a little while be a little paranoid. Hopefully this person is on the other side of the country.

If you run a nice operation for your livestock - tell him 'Bring it on' - I'm proud of the conditions I keep my animals in' -- and look around to see if there is an animal inspector..talk it over with them etc. -- LOL. You can't let someone who is unhinged have too much influence...but you have to have some thoughts of the downside...as you said you felt shaken - and sometimes a gut feeling is something we should be paying attention to.

You can't say 'get a life' to that person ...but I wish that they would and leave you in peace. best of luck with it.

 

[Judy]

On BYC, we encourage members to report any posts or PM's of that sort to the staff, so that we can deal with them. We have a rule against personal attacks, and certainly won't tolerate threats.

Sunflour said it, exactly. I think this particular mindset is often that of a teen or preteen.

 

[COOLNARWHALZ]

That dude needs to calm down about one little egg :|

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'm in real trouble. I dropped a whole egg carton on the floor and broke most of them. Just before I was going to eat them.

 

[irisshiller]

Thank you all for your comments! Makes me feel a lot better! Especially that you dropped a whole egg carton on the floor, ChickenCanoe!

Yes I decided to be a little more careful of what I post... I wanted to share everything, the good and the bad, but the bad sometimes doesn't go down too well with people. I was also cut up about the baby bunnies - we have since closed every single hole where a cat might have come in. And yes, I am proud of the conditions I keep my animals in! They are a lot better than many other pet zoos around here.

But I honestly can't say I'm cut up about the egg!
If a chicken wants to sit on her eggs, I let her, but it only happened to me once until now. Usually they just lay them and happily abandon them

Anyway I think he was more of a 'hit and run' type - never to be heard of again hopefully!

Thanks again for your support!!

 

[Blooie]

First of all, relax. Most of us know that not every egg is a "potential chick" but if this character thinks he can get to you then facts don't matter, and obviously he isn't armed with facts. I've always found it amusing that these folks have no problem screaming at those of who eat meat and use our eggs for our families, trying to guilt us into stopping that behavior, yet we quietly go about our lives NOT trying to force them into the reverse. When was the last time any of you went to a strictly vegan site and started demanding that the people there change their ways? Not very often, I'd bet, unless you're a troll who just enjoys going to web sites and stirring up trouble. I have no problem with people who are concerned about the safety and well being of the animals we take care of - I'd rather they were like that than have no hearts at all. But I do take offense to them name calling, harassing, belittling and threatening another person into their idea of a lifestyle. Whatever happened to, "You live your life and I'll live mine"?

I sure wouldn't worry about him calling some agency to arrest you for cruelty or shut you down. Bet there's a carton of eggs or a package of chicken in that agent's home fridge right now and besides, they are just a little too busy with justified investigations to check you out for a broken egg. And if your facility is clean and well run, you have nothing to worry about anyway, even if they do show up. You blocked and deleted, and that's the only response he needs.