TV chef says no difference from eating pork and eating puppies

Comments from TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall were published this week where he said that there was no difference between eating pork and eating puppies.

Views seemed to be mixed. Most people were appalled at the notion of eating dogs and couldn’t believe someone from a dog loving nation like the UK could even dare suggest such a thing.

Some, including vegetarians and vegans, thought that he had a point.

I’ve been a vegetarian for 25 years and a vegan for less than a year, so what I’m about to say is my opinion. I speak for myself, not for anyone else.

I thought that what HFW said was sick. Coming from a man who likes to eat road kill (I don’t scrape up any dead animals I find and shove them into a baking tin, I bury them – I’m funny like that) and who has also ate curried fruit bat in the past, this is not a call for people to re-examine their consciences where eating animals is concerned.

If a vegetarian or vegan had said what he said they’d have been highlighting the hypocrisy of people who eat some animals but wouldn’t eat others. Their message would be that every animal has the right to indulge in their normal behaviours and to not be farmed and killed. Therefore there would be no difference between eating pig and eating puppy.

But, if a meat eater like HFW makes a comment like that it’s as if he’s advocating extending the range of animals people eat. Why not when people already eat pigs?   

The other reason his comments were objectionable was because he was saying, ‘hey, if you eat meat, you should be willing to eat any animal whether it’s a piglet or a puppy.

Take aside the fact that dogs have the status as pets in most Western societies, do we really need someone advocating that when so many new animals are already being eating in the West? Animals like kangaroo, squirrel and shark?

That’s on top of the ones people eat that many people would find morally objectionable like horse (they eat horsemeat in Belgium and Germany and many other countries), monkey (in 2002 there were reports of monkey meat being sold in the UK) and cats (in certain Swiss cultures they eat cat meat).

We need there to be some animals people won't eat. There has to be a limit, because when there isn’t people will start eating anything.

Footnote - I've been very surprised after going on various message boards and groups to see that many vegans and vegetarians agree with HFW's comments. Everyone is entitled to their opinion (just as I am) but to people who genuinely believe that eating a puppy is the same as eating pork, I would ask this question - would you protest against/boycott a butchers or supermarket for selling puppy meat? If the answer is yes (as I hope it would be) why do you not do the same when stores sell pork?

Whether we like it not, certain animals like dogs are given a higher status in our society than ours and its just as well they are because then they'd be farmed and eaten too.

And that's how veggiegirl2011 see it.

The Ugly Truth about Puppy Farms

Think of the phrase puppy farm* and it may conjure up an image of a kind of doggie paradise. Loads of puppies trotting around, playing, and having fun and being spoilt rotten.

*In the USA and Canada, puppy farms are usually called puppy mills.

The harsh reality of puppy farms is quite different; horrifically so in many cases.

Here are some facts about puppy farming –

All over the world dogs are being put to sleep for no other reason than they don’t have a home. Puppy farms make the problem worse. If people get a puppy they won’t adopt an unwanted dog.

In the UK, Wales and Ireland are where most puppy farms (puppy mills) are located. Ireland because there NO laws on puppy farms. Most of these puppies are sold in pet shops in the south of England.

As many as 50,000 puppies are exported to the UK from Ireland every year.

Puppy farms are for one thing – breeding as many dogs as possible so they can be sold to make as much money as possible.

Some puppy farms supply animal research labs where dogs are used for cruel tests. They may have chemicals dripped in their eyes, have skin and muscle cut off (this is done for some dog food testing, so that pet food companies can say their food increases muscles) and be injected with toxins to see how much it takes to kill them.

Little attention is paid to the welfare of the puppies and their mothers. Often they are left in darkness for 24 hours a day and not allowed to go outside.

Dogs are kept in cages with not enough space.

Mother dogs are often kept away from other dogs for the duration of their pregnancy. There is no good reason for this.

Mother dogs are usually often forced to give birth in the same bedding where they are also forced to do the toilet.

Mother dogs are not regularly seen by vets and may end up with a host of medical problems as a result.

Mother dogs, who can no longer have puppies because they are too exhausted or old, are killed or dumped. They have outlived their usefulness.

Puppies are not raised in a normal, healthy environment and often have health and behavioural problems as a result.

If you worry that your pet came from a puppy farm, take them to the vet immediately. Many puppies from these cruel farms are sickly and some even die.

In a nutshell, puppy farms are the battery farming of puppies.

Note – A breeder being Kennel Club registered is no guarantee of proper standards of dog care. I have spoken to people and heard of cases where dog breeders were registered, yet the puppies they sold were so sickly (probably because the condition they were forced to live in) that they had to have major operations or be put to sleep.

The good news is there is something you can do –

DON’T buy from these puppy farms. You may not be aware that you are as puppies are advertised on the Internet and on shop windows, so ALWAYS ask to see puppies in their HOME environment. NEVER meet a breeder in a car park or anywhere else as this is a common ploy used by unscrupulous pet dealers.

If your local pet shop sells puppies, ASK them if they come from puppy farms. If they do, tell them you are against the cruelty involved and would never buy one. Tell your friends so they won’t buy a dog either.

If buying a puppy, always go to a reputable breeder and buy a mixed breed dog. I have yet to hear of a puppy farm selling mixed breed dogs, unless they are Labradoodles.

WRITE TO your local politician and make them aware of this evil trade. Ask them why these farms are not illegal.

For people in the UK, go to www.dogs-r-us.org/whatyoucando.shtml and you will find a form letter to send to your MP. ASK them why the animal welfare laws have not been updated to ensure proper animal care standards are met in puppy farms.

My rescue dog Benjy on the day we got him. He was 17-months-old.

ADOPT a rescue dog. If people did that instead of buying a puppy eventually puppy farms would close. The reason they exist is because of the demand for puppies. No demand for puppies equals no puppy farms.

OBJECT to any planning applications for puppy farms. They will usually be called something like breeding centres and be situated in barns and disused large sheds.

Where to learn more about puppy farms –

www.dogs-r-us.org

Click here to read stories from people who unwittingly bought puppies from these cruel farms

http://www.dogs-r-us.org/yourstories.shtml

www.humanesociety.org/issues/puppy_mills

CURRENT PLANNING APPLICATIONS

Click on the link to see what a planning application for a puppy farm looks like.

Carmarthenshire – dog breeding kennels (puppy farm)

http://www.ukplanning.com/carmarthenshire/findCaseFile.do?appType=planning+folder&appNumber=W%2F24449&action=Search