Farm Sanctuary; Happy Cows Saved from Slaughterhouse

a reply to: ketsuko

better than being slaughtered because they are "useless". At least some kids have something to eat for the day that way. If only we could teleport them to the places they could be used like this... some day maybe?

a reply to: FamCore

I understand that you don't like that farm animals are farm animals and you think they should all serve happy retirements. It's great when they can, but the reality is that not even the most ethical of small family farms can afford to let every one of their old animals live out to natural death. If they did, they would not survive to continue in their ethical farming practices.

a reply to: FamCore

Yes, but being slaughtered often means they are being made into meat and that meat feeds people. Odds are that you have even eaten old dairy cow at one point in your life or other if you've eaten ground beef. That's not to mention the leather and other things that can be made from a cow.

So this idea that being slaughtered at a slaughter house means they are simply thrown out is not true. They've been sold are being used for other purposes. They just aren't prime beef.

a reply to: ketsuko

and I do understand this. I think it's great there are places like Farm Sanctuary that are making it possible for more of these animals to have a "happy retirement" as you put it - maybe more of these organizations will spring up as a result of the growing awareness of factory farming.

thanks for your input!

originally posted by: FamCore
What about starving kids in Africa?

They should move to where THE FOOD IS!!!!!!!! Ohhhhhh!!!! OHHHHHHH!!!!!!

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I'm sensing some sarcasm. I do appreciate your posts here on ATS. but I would actually be curious what you think about Factory Farming and places like Farm Sanctuary and the projects they work on. Unless you aren't interested in this, but that is what the OP was about

nvm...

originally posted by: FamCore
I'm sensing some sarcasm.

It was actually a quote from Sam Kinison's stand up.

I do appreciate your posts here on ATS. but I would actually be curious what you think about Factory Farming and places like Farm Sanctuary and the projects they work on. Unless you aren't interested in this, but that is what the OP was about

I purchase all my meat from local farms either directly or at the Fairway Market that works with them. I have my pick of everything you can imagine.

I also agree with BFFT whose philosophy on food, animal husbandry and where we all fit into the environment is pretty much aligned with mine.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I'm not familiar with Sam Kinson, sorry I missed the reference. It's great to know that you are conscious about the sources of the meat you buy. BFFT had some really great input about how moral equivalence doesn't fit with the ideas/philosophy I was talking about. It's good to hear that type of feedback when necessary, which it was.

I only wish more people were aware of the practices involved in factory farming and the opportunities that are out there for places like Farm Sanctuary to try to create "happy retirements" for some of these animals.

ETA: we also made sheep. Sheep are useless animals in the wild, and not prone to defending themselves. They are wooly dodo birds. We also made corn, wheat, and a plethora of other food items. None o them would have existed without humans creating them as a product using husbandry.

This is completely correct.

This is what happens to a sheep in the wild.

Chris had 93 lbs of wool on him when he was rescued. They think he may have been 5 or 6 years old, and they don't think he would have survived on his own much longer accumulating fleece at that rate.

Sheep can't get rid of their fleece if they aren't sheared.

originally posted by: FamCore
I'm not familiar with Sam Kinson, sorry I missed the reference.

I edited in a clip above. The man was a genius.

It's great to know that you are conscious about the sources of the meat you buy. BFFT had some really great input about how moral equivalence doesn't fit with the ideas/philosophy I was talking about. It's good to hear that type of feedback when necessary, which it was.

Well he and I have some things in common. I did food service hospitality for many years and became attuned to sourcing my produce and meat from the best producers. That has carried over to my post-restaurant existence so I do the same at home.

a reply to: FamCore

The other thing too is that animals generally do not have a sense of time like we do. They don't tend to worry about yesterday or tomorrow. It's just right now.

So long as they are having a healthy, happy now, they are content and not thinking about or worrying about what happens down the line especially not domestic animals that aren't bred for their brains.

We're the ones who think about those things.

a reply to: ketsuko

thanks for that added perspective. I have developed a thick skin and been through and seen a lot, and have seen others experience a lot of trauma too and am very empathetic, but I am very mushy and soft when it comes to living things and pain they might go through. I guess I'm an easy target on places like ATS

a reply to: FamCore

Look, I am not knocking you or this concept, but I don't want you to think that what happens to former milk cows is irresponsible either. They simply go on to serve a different purpose in a different part of the food chain. A milk cow can live a happy healthy life and end up at slaughter and not simply be discarded at the end. They produce beef.

a reply to: FamCore Seeing these cows run to the field of grass brought tears to my eye's and made me think again about becoming a vegetarian or not eating beef. I then considered how I don't eat beef that much anyhow and thought about paying the extra money the few times I do eat beef, on grass fed free range meet, wouldn't be so bad.
The images I have seen of factory farming are like nightmares.
I don't get who eats so much beef on this planet. In a three month period, I might eat beef about 1-4 times.
People saying how cows contribute to global warming may or may not have a point... as I have not researched this myself, I don't know about it. I wonder if the simple solution would be to stop over breeding and over consumption of cows and their milk.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: FamCore

Look, I am not knocking you or this concept, but I don't want you to think that what happens to former milk cows is irresponsible either. They simply go on to serve a different purpose in a different part of the food chain. A milk cow can live a happy healthy life and end up at slaughter and not simply be discarded at the end. They produce beef.

man, that would be some terrible quality beef.

but you are right. it produces all sorts of feed and has chemistry applied to it.

thankfully, your average human (meaning me) eats steer more than a milkcow.

a reply to: peppycat

i eat beef 3-4 times a week, typically. but i live in steer country.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Generally speaking, I really like my local butchers.

a reply to: berenike

All is at peace in their world. I can hardly bear to think how short the lives of the lambs and calves are likely to be and how distraught their mothers are when they're taken away. Mercifully, they'll never know the fate of their babies or guess what they're likely to suffer themselves in the future.

Kinda reminds me of the maternity wards in hospitals, few realize the endless cycle of reincarnation - into this slave planet.

a reply to: peppycat

We don't eat beef much. It's expensive. We usually stick with pork and fish with chicken. When we do go beef though, we pay for it at one of the two local butchers we know of. They get local meat from the local farmers. One is the preferred butcher for the competitive BBQ teams in the area, and they cut like it. They other is a smaller boutique shop that produces in house charcuterie.

We might indulge once every month to two months.