Whale hunting

[BigB]

Is anyone else horrified by the Japanese/Norwegian/Icelandic attiude to whale hunting?
These are intelligent mammals. No reasoning can excuse this vile trade.
The Japs said "whale meat is an important part of our tradition". Well, burning withces was part of ours but we changed. How can we help in the campaign to ban this?

[kempie]

...and cows are sufficiently below the 'intelligence level' cutoff to be of no regard?

[carrust]

All domestic animals are bred for meat,and are slaughtered humanely under controlled conditions.Their death is carried out as quickly as possible,so the animal feels very little or no
pain.The end product is now essential in a balanced diet.
Whales die a horrific death,sometimes taking over an hour to die.Whale meat is regarded as a luxury product ,eaten by the wealthy.They are also an endangered species, unlike cows.
I suggest you join a campianning group such as greenpeace.

[BigB]

Got any answer to carrusts post Kempie?

[kempie]

"slaughtered humanely" - an oxymoron if ever there was.

Strange how the definition of slaughter changes when applied to animals instead of humans:

1. To kill (animals) especially for food; butcher.

2. a. To kill (people) in large numbers; massacre.
b. To kill in a violent or brutal manner.

[Goodsoulette]

If we didnt eat cows you wouldnt have the pleasure of seeing them as you drive through the countryside. I dont think that meat is a necessary requirement of our staple diet anymore but I don't think you can liken whaling to farming. We can control how livestock is bred and slaughtered but whaling we cant breed them, and restock the oceans like we can for cows and sheep.
| watched a program last night about innuit hunting. Their philosophy on it seemed "better" as it is their way of life. However the were using guns and machinery to drag the whale out of the ice, I think it would have seemed more believable had they been using more traditional methods. Although they left whales alone that were courting to mate.

[kempie]

A novel theory... cows would not exist if we did not eat them.

[Goodsoulette]

At what point did I say they wouldn't exist. I living in Somerset know lots and lots of farmers. They would not keep their herds if they weren't making money out of them. My mum and stepdad have a farm, its dairy and they keep sucker herds. My stepdad is very respectul of their animals and my mother is vegetarian, has been since I was 6.

[kempie]

Goodsoulette - it was a flippant remark based on my (mis-)interpretation of your first sentence.

[zara 4]

Bigb in answer to the japs and whale meat,these people also sit in box fulls of crabs and pull trucks with their nipples a la chris tarrant,says it all about their mentality!!

[carrust]

Kempie. I guess you're a vegetarian,& like most veggies you can't accept people who eat meat.I know some of the practices in rearing farm animals is not acceptable.However,meat is a cheap form of protein and sustains most of the worlds population.If we all were veggies most of the countryside as we know it would be like Lincolnshire,mile upon mile of featureless fields.

[Zen]

I live in Lincolnshire (North) Featureless fields my @rse.have you ever be in the Wolds ? The flat boring bit is down south where the the Vegetables are grown,nothing to do with rearing cattle.

[Goodsoulette]

Maybe we should all boycott Japanese electrical goods and the like. If we stopped trading with them maybe they would have to sit up and take note.

[kempie]

Actually I am not a vegetarian.

But neither am I professing the double standard of justifying the slaughter of domesticated animals whilst simultaneously castigating the slaughter of animals "we" never got round to domesticating.

Which is worse...

a life of freedom followed by a drawn out death...

or a life of captivity leading to an quicker end?

[carrust]

Zen.Sorry,I should have said S Lincs.I've been oop north Lincs & it's lovely.

[carrust]

There are no double standards about it.As I said whales are an endangered species & should be left alone.I have no problem with eating meat from sustainable sources, as long as the animal is treated with respect.And I think you would have problems domesticating a whale.

[kempie]

Nothing says "respect" like a bolt through the brain.

[Lonnie]

I appreciate this post was originally about Whales, but it appears to have diversified a bit,.
Just like to say that I haven't been certified yet, now, how come no-one speaks up for Fruit and Vegetables, I mean, when you eat, eg, a Lettuce, you are eating it alive, or, when you put a Cabbage in a pot of Boiling water, its still alive, and we don't yet know enough about their nervous systems, to know if they are in pain or not.
The thing is, they are living creatures.

[kempie]

For those who wish to read about factors threatening the whale population (i.e. pollution, ozone depletion, climate change, noise, "ghost nets", ship collisions etc.)

http://www.oceanalliance.org/wci/index.html

http://savethewhales.org/threats.html

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campai gns/save-our-seas-2/save-the-whales

http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx? oid=10343

[BigB]

Kempie, It is obvious you condone whale hunting and liken it to animals raised for meat. I personally cannot see the likeness. Most domesticated farm animals are not aware they are captive and the standards for slaughter houses are very strict. So i think you comments on which is best just shows how naive you are about animals in general.
Humans are omnivores. We have evolved eating meat (hence why we have "canine" teeth) I was not responsible for that evolution but i cannot go against it either. Very very few foods other than meat can give us the essential proteins we need for a helathy life. WE DO NOT NEED WHALE MEAT!!!! It has a very high fat content and failry low protein content so isnt the best meat anyway.