The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    jollyroger's picture

    It is mischief to hold a mirror up to ugly

    By jollyroger on Sat, 10/29/2016 - 4:41pm |

    A heroic angel who permits us one of those occasional moments of pride in the species is currently charged with criminal mischief in Canada because she provided water to thirsty animals on the way to slaughter.

    Anita Krajnc gives pigs water near a slaughterhouse in Burlington, Ont. Krajnc is on trial charged with criminal mischief charge for her act.

    Anita Krajnc gives pigs water near a slaughterhouse in Burlington, Ont. Krajnc is on trial charged with criminal mischief charge for her act. 

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/pig-trial-1.3786632

    I have been mulling this from several aspects, and I conclude that the mischief in question must relate to the meta message of her behavior, since the act itself would appear innocent of any adverse consequence.

     

    So, since the charge of mischief implies a disordering of the fabric of reality, Ithinking this through brings me to the conclusion that we cannot be simple predators (carnivores) in the present factory farm environment.

     

    If we are permitted to consider the suffering of our prey as an independent variable susceptible of aggravation and amelioration, the whole economic structure will collapse.

     

    Big Ag has thought this through, and that's why they won't let her give them water.

    Comments

    It's a slippery slope...give'em water, next thing they'll want to be able to turn around.


    by jollyroger on Sat, 10/29/2016 - 4:46pm

    Many animals get sick on the road if they eat or drink. Some animals are smart enough to learn this, some aren't. My dog will not eat and only drinks sparingly when I take her to town. I usually buy a roasted chicken at walmarts for lunch and she will not eat any. Even though chicken is her favorite food. When we get home she gobbles it up. Animals aren't fed or watered on the road so they don't get sick and to limit the amount of pissing and shitting they do in the truck.

    I'm all in favor of much more humane treatment of animals. But there are reasons animals are not fed or watered during transport.


    by ocean-kat on Sat, 10/29/2016 - 6:40pm

    Of interest, the driver testified that the pigs get water before and after but not during travel.

     

    OTOH, the charging documents seem to make a big deal out of the possibility that something other than water is being given...

     

    I think the larger question still obtains, viz, if we cannot slaughter locally (the opposite of factory farming, I guess), and must haul the animals miles to their death, does that stand as one more way in which the attempt to deliver low cost meat is bound to produce extra suffering.


    by jollyroger on Sat, 10/29/2016 - 8:15pm

    The possibility of anything at all being given to the animals by "civilians" is problematic - since they are to be slaughtered for their meat, and the FDA being particular about that sort of thing - and could lead to all sorts of serious consequences for the farmer.


    by barefooted on Sat, 10/29/2016 - 8:37pm

    Yes, one certainly can concede that--It does sorta, however, make inevitable the suggestion, "Hey, farmers, if you don't want Anita to give water to your thirsty pigs, do it your own damn selves!"

     

    To which their rejoinder that it would kill their profits to incur the expense thereof brings us back to factory farming in general.

     

    I don't know if I any longer believe in the possibility of ameliorating the suffering to an "acceptable" level, even as I wrestle with the concept of "acceptable suffering".


    by jollyroger on Sat, 10/29/2016 - 10:18pm

    I'm all in favor of limiting the amount of miles live animals can be transported for slaughter as well as much higher standards for the conditions in which they are raised and killed.


    by ocean-kat on Sat, 10/29/2016 - 8:41pm

    Claro.

     

    I suspect that it would mean the end of one of my favorite meat transactions, the purchase of boneless pork loin at $2.00/lb (which is my  universally applied standard for advantageously priced meat--anything 2 bucks or under is  good, perhaps an unconscious homage to Two Buck Chuck.

     

    I think that as a "price conscious" consumer I am the problem here, not the solution.


    by jollyroger on Sat, 10/29/2016 - 10:22pm

    Slippery slope alert:  Massachusetts Ballot Question 3 would mandate "turn around" room (quelle luxe!) and there go my dollar a dozen jumbo eggs...

    Massachusetts isn’t a large producer of eggs or meat, but animal-rights groups and national trade associations are paying close attention to the state this year. Question 3 on the ballot would require giving farm animals enough space to lie down, stand up, extend their limbs and turn around — essentially banning inhumane confined animal feeding operations. Proponents don’t think that is asking for much, but opponents insist it would substantially raise egg prices because farms from outside the state would have to comply if they wished to import and sell their products in Massachusetts. The Humane Society of the United States has poured more than a million dollars into the “yes” campaign, and if the measure passes, it could soon show up on ballots in other states.

    http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/10/election-2016-ballot-init...

     

     

     


    by jollyroger on Sun, 10/30/2016 - 3:37pm

    The problem with no regulation is it becomes a race to the bottom. On farmer decides if he can reduce the size of the cage by an inch he can get one more pig in a warehouse. What's an inch, meaningless. Then the next one decides that 2 inches means 2 more pigs. etc. That's the real slippery slope of unregulated capitalism.


    by ocean-kat on Sun, 10/30/2016 - 4:05pm

    maybe we'll see more farm/consumer co-ops.  I'd go 2/dozen if they let the hens turn around...


    by jollyroger on Sun, 10/30/2016 - 5:09pm

    And inch by inch, you end up with Donald Trump

     


    by CVille Dem on Sun, 10/30/2016 - 10:14pm