Whom Do You Think As “Food” Animals & Whom not?
My encounters with animals
For initial several years of my life, I didn’t come across any animal as food or as pet. Then I came to know of couple of house-owners who used to keep a watch-dog as their pet. My interactions with those dogs were not any friendly. I always found those dogs to be very aggressive and threatening to me for no reason. So I used to perceive these pet-owners as very un-friendly people, who don’t want to socialize with anyone.
One day, my classmate told the story of how a watch-dog of a pet-owner nearby our school shooed away a thief last night. The dog even broke the chain he was tied with, to attack the thief. As a reward, the pet-owner fed him some extra chapatis. I was like, “Was their pet being under-fed all other days!”
Later on in my life, I happened to meet many pet owners with different animals as pet like cats, parrots, pigeons, camels, cows, buffaloes, horses, goats, sheep, rabbits, turtles, fishes, and even crocodile & wolves. People fancy many animals and want to keep them as their pet
I also came across people who used to eat chickens, fishes, deer, wild boar, wild cocks, goats, peacocks, pheasants, crabs and even snakes and live worms.
There I got confused
I was and still am quite confused by the choices people make for animals as their food and animals as their pet. I don’t know what exactly are the criteria or differentiating parameters to make this choice.
Personally, I don’t see animals as food or even pets. But I’d like to know how people decide on what to eat and what to keep as a pet.
Is bunny sweet or her meat?
About 6 years back, I heard that a hypermarket in an upmarket Mall at Gurgaon has started selling rabbit meat. I had never heard of rabbits as food before, though I’ve seen several projects promoting farming of rabbits in Himalayan villages. But they were focused on producing Angora wool from rabbits.
So, one fine evening, I went to that hypermarket. I normally don’t go towards the meat section but I specially went there that day and asked them for rabbit meat. 3-4 staff members immediately surrounded me. Then the manager humbly conveyed me that it’s currently out of stock. I inquired the rate they are selling it for and they informed me about it which was the same I had heard of. Anyway, I left that place at that time. But it again raised this question in my mind, how do people decide which animal is edible and which one is not!
For some they are pets, for others it's food. For me, it's a life-form
The world over, people are divided on it. E.g. Dogs are edible and a delicacy in China but people in USA would be shocked with the idea of consuming dogs . USA has got the largest number of dogs as pets in the world but none of them is opposed to eating a hamburger; whereas in India & Nepal, there are strict laws against slaughtering of cows.
Now a days, bunnies have become the third most popular pets in US. So when Whole Food introduced rabbit meat in their outlets, there were wide scale protests by the bunny lovers. But eating rabbits during Lent was popularized by monks according to legends. Pope Gregory is said to declare that rabbits were not meat and were counted as fishes.
Now India approves rabbits as "food" animals
Today, local cultures are intersecting globally. Last September, FSSAI notified an amendment in Food Safety And Standards Regulations to include rabbits as food in India. So now we have a long list of animals as food:
- Ovines: "of, relating to, or resembling sheep"
- Caprines: "of, relating to, or being a goat"
- Suillines: "of or relating to a pig"
- Bovines: : "any of a subfamily (Bovinae) of bovids including oxen, bison, buffalo, and their close relative"
And now this list also includes domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).
But the question remains unanswered to me, “What are the criteria for inclusion and exclusion of an animal from our food chain?”
Why so limited list of animals as food, when there are thousands out there?
If it’s nutrition, insects and worms are said to be the most nutritious and eco-friendly to consume after plant-based diet. If it’s killing few animals, the huge ones like hippopotamus and elephants should be consumed. Shouldn’t animal husbandry focus its research & development efforts to improve productivity by enhancing these breeds? And if it’s ego, lion-hearted people will love to boost their ego by eating lion’s meat. Why not breed lions and start their intensive farming?
Do so called pet lovers, really love animals? If so, how come they keep one animal as pet and eat the other? Rationally speaking all animals are equal and humans can eat any of those. But do we really need to eat any animal for the sake of our life?
The author of “Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It's So Hard to Think Straight About Animals” Hal Herzog says, ““We think of ourselves as a nation of animal lovers. What we really like to do with animals is eat them". But it’s all about our social construct. As I grew up in a society that didn’t consume any animal products and nor kept any animal as pet, I’m against consuming any animals or keeping them as pets. In other parts of the world, people grow up consuming animals and hence think it as normal.
Do animals really need to be categorized as food?
I don’t think there is any need to consume animals in anywhich way (as food or pet), when we can live a healthy and fulfilled life without it. Even if you consume animals, I’d like to hear the rational of categorizing the animal kingdom into food and non-food. Do you know any?
bunny is meat.. the wild one, not the domesticated one. the wild one tastes better than the domesticated one.
i think this has something to do with culture and where you live.. i live in a place (Philippines) where if an "animal stops long enough", it becomes food.
in Asia in general this is the trend. i have also been to Thailand where this is the trend. even on the streets you could find worms, scorpions, etc sold on sticks.
Well my question is about the justification for differentiating between various animals like yo said wild vs. domesticated animals. So does that mean you have tasted both wild and domesticated animals to conclude which one tastes better? Someone may find meat of domesticated pets tasty too? Does this justify killing of pet animals?
You're right when you say it's to do with culture and all cultures had / have things that are illogical and unjustified which we do away once we understand the anomaly. Same is applicable to our culture of consuming animal meat in general.
Great question, I love pets and animals in general. I also love to eat meat and pretty much anything tasty for that matter. Some animals taste good, others don't. We tend to eat herbivores and some omnivores. People generally don't eat carnivores as the meat is too lean, they are more difficult to catch or domesticate and they are fewer in number.
We eat animals that are for the most part safe to keep, economical to raise and easy to catch. Raising a cat for food would be extremely expensive, they eat a high protein diet and they produce very little meat, carnivores are often solitary too. Cats have benefits like keeping away pests that would reduce your food supply, so it's better to keep cats around than to eat them. Chickens on the other hand are cheap to raise, they eat seeds, they can be kept together and they grow quickly, chickens make terrible pets and they don't do much good asides from fill a plate.
When you say, chickens make terribe pets, it's your subjective evaluation. Many people these days keep hens and roosters as their pets and they adjust very well with other pets too. People keep hamsters as their pets too, which according to you are pests and to eliminate them we need cats!
Going by your logic of "safe to keep and economical to raise animals", there can be several animals that fit this criteria. If you are looking for the most efficient and economical breed, then humans must be eating only one breed of animals. BTW, rabbits too are prolific breeders and meet all your criteria of animal husbandry. You didn't say anything about it? Would you love to eat a bunny that is kept as a pet?
I find your statements quite contradictory. You love pets and animals in general but you also love their meat and find it tasty! Ain't you killing your love for the sake of meat?
The issue I have with chicks is that they aren't very intelligent and they are quite destructive. You can't really keep one in your house because they are noisy and they would make a mess. Small rodents like hamsters are incapable of loving you and don't really want to be kept as pets, you are essentially jailing them in a cage against their will. Let your hamster out doors for a few hours, it probably won't come back. If you stores grain you wouldn't be too happy if you had a rodent issue, small rodents like rats and mice are pests. Some rats are smart but the rest of them don't want to be pets.
By saying "safe to keep and economical to raise" I was implying there is a reason we don't keep dangerous predictors as pets or for livestock. They could hurt you, they will kill other animals you keep with them and they are expensive to feed because they require meat. If you read up on the domestication of animals you would not be questioning this fact. People do raise the most economical breed possible but tend to diversify a little because the price of meat fluctuates and the cost inputs. Its also not cheap to switch your farm over from a pig farm to a chicken farm. Farming is a serious business, don't think of it as Old MacDonalds farm with smiling animals, farmers are strictly in it for the money (or food.)
My statements aren't contradictory, animals are different, a cat is not a chicken, pig, fish or cow. Just like you wouldn't eat a leaf from most trees, and we don't eat most grass seeds, some we eat, others we don't. Whether it's because of taste, or if the animal makes sense to raise or not. Some animals like dogs and cats are cute, they want to be pets and they are rather intelligent so for the most part we don't eat them. Rabbits although cute, are pretty dumb and they have to be locked up or forcible confined against their will which I am against. Just because it's an animal doesn't mean it's food to me. Some animals are food others aren't. Just like some plants are food and others aren't.
depends on the rate of reproducing maybe?
Apparently not. Do read my other comments on this post that defy this "fast breeding" logic.
Really good post and an interesting topic for sure!
Frist of I'm no vegan or vegetarian but I only eat meat I know the animals had it well or I have to admit the occasional burger after a long night out drinking.
In my opinion the line between food or non-food animal is manmade. If you think logically and rational there is literally no difference in eating for example a rabbit than eating a cat. It just happens the cat has been domesticated and the rabbit is still mainly held for its meat. Another reason for clearl food animals like cows, pigs, chicken is there biological potential to breed faster and better than other non-food animals.
Do not get me wrong I'm in no way defending mass animal husbandry just stating some sad facts.
You said it! All animals are animals ....the discriminating line between food and non-food is according to human convenience and is very subjective. And faster breeding logic is not biologically true. Humans have evolved animal husbandry to make over-breeding possible for making "live-stock" farming more "efficient". There is hardly any rational logic for consumption of meat by humans.
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This is one of the hardest question my friend. No one can easily be sure what is good and what is bad in this world. In tundra region, earth freezes for more than eight months. Crops cannot grow there. In this situation the native of these region like Eskimos, Laps etc had no choice but to eat meat. On the other hand we Indian have fertile soil, favorable weather for crops and means of agriculture. Hence, we are naturally vegetarian. Every living animal have a right to live happily. However, nature has made this system that weak, wounded or old animals are killed by hunters which gives chance to strong and more capable animals to survive.
So, I would say it is difficult for us to decide what is good and what is bad.
It's not that difficult to decide if you're willing to.
What percentage of world population live in Tundra region? It's easy to give irrelevant examples when defending our meat eating habits but none of it has any logical explanation for consuming meat when there is enough supply of plant-based food. Today world has enough produce to fulfil the world hunger (if no animal meat is consumed) and we have efficient logistics to transport food to any-which place. Humans, today, can get their pizza in space stations too. In case, if a place can not be served with edible plant based food, humans should evacuate those places imho.
Nature has its own way of selection. Even if hunters don't kill weak or wounded animals, stronger breed will always survive. And if not, why not let the weak survive too?
Resources are limited. That is why nature took this course. This is the design of nature. We can't say that good or bad.
Sorry, Nature didn't took this course, humans have interfered in the ways of the Nature way too much.
And please note that there is no evidence that resources are limited. Resources are ample to fulfil human hunger. In fact, animal farming is a huge burden on resources and could be avoided.
I am not talking about human interfere. Natural selection is a fact in natural world. One animal is the food item for other. However, I agree with you in context of human society. As a human meat consumption is not our obligation.
I agree. Rearing animals for meat consumption is definitely a burden. Vegetarian food items consume less resources from nature while for the same amount of meat, we need 100 times resources in comparison to vegetarian food.
Bueno amigo @xyzashu, primero no todas las personas son iguales hay algunas que ven a los animales como mascotas y hay otras personas que lo ven como comida, en caso de los cazadores tienen un perro que los gia hacia donde esta la PRESA es decir otros animales para haci cazarlo y comerlo. saludos.
आपका यह कहना ठीक है कि हर तरह के लोग होते हैं परंतु ऐसे लोग भी हैं जो पालतू जानवर भी रखते हैं और अन्य प्रजाति के जानवरों का माँस भी बड़े चाव से खाते हैं! तो क्या वे अपने पालतू जानवर से प्रेम नहीं करते? क्या वे किसी और द्वारा पाले गए अन्य प्रजाति के जानवर को खाने में जरा भी नहीं हिचकेंगे?
जो आपने शिकारी कुत्ते का उदाहरण दिया है, उस विषय पर मेरा मानना है कि शिकारी कुत्ता एक पालतू जानवर के रूप में नहीं रखा जाता बल्कि एक व्यावसायिक उद्देश्य से रखा और इस्तेमाल किया जाता है। अतः उससे उसके स्वामी को कोई विशेष आसक्ति नहीं होती है। ज़रुरत पड़ने पर वह शिकारी कुत्ते को भी मार सकता/ती है।
प्रश्न यह है कि एक जानवर को पालने वाला, उससे प्यार करने वाला व्यक्ति अन्य जानवर को खाने में क्यों नहीं झिझकता? कौनसा जानवर खाने के लिए है और कौन पालने के लिए है, इसके मानदंड क्या हैं?
Hrowing up in the rural US I have eaten many animals, birds and fish that others have not though of eating, mostly because I hunted and fished for them myself. I you are foing to be disappointed to find iut that there isn't one universal answer. Part of it is cultural and part of it familial and personal. I for one have always been an adventurous eater and have always tried a new animal when given the opportunity. I have had birds as pets and I have eaten birds. I have had fish as lets and I have eaten fish. I have had cows as pets and eaten beef. I have two dogs as pets currently yet I would try dog meat if given the opportunity. I may be in the vast minority of the people that will be posting in that I have never shied away from eating animal. But on the other hands my dogs provide me with great comfort and support and training them was a source of great accomplishment for me. I would never dain to eat one of these two dogs because they are my family. The only answer I can offer you is that people are fickle; you don’t eat or care for animals becaus eod the way you were raised and I have always had and eaten animals because that was the way I was raised. This was an interesting topic to think about; thanks for the post @xyzashu!
Very rightly said. Most people eat animals because of the way they are brought up in this society. We need to blame the culture of consuming animals. Some cultures eat anything, some are quite picky and some do not eat any.
What I feel is that it is because of our ego and the dominance we want to prove on all animals; that's why we keep hunting for new varieties of animals and call it as adventure. Other thing could be that we don't respect animals as some being, we don't respect the Nature, the life and couldn't feel the inter-connectedness of all life forms. Once we start respecting life of all individuals and stop deriving selfish advantages out of their existence, we shall probably understand them better.
We are all raised in a certain way, but once we are grown up and develop our own conscience, we can decide better. Society is not always right and when we do right, we are taking a step towards a new tradition and helping the evolution of a new society.
Thanks for sharing your belief and experiences!
For me there is no such thing as food animals! I am vegan!
Glad to hear that. You seem to be more logical and aligned with the Nature.
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