Phil Gutis's Blog
I was Warned
October 26, 2007
Posted by Phil Gutis in Living Sustainably , The Media and the Environment
Earlier this week, Salon.com posted a piece about PETA and its global warming campaign. Since I had written on the subject on Switchboard, I got the call from the Salon reporter and had the dubious pleasure of becoming the lead skeptic in the article. (As I explained to the good folks at PETA, I had not been quite so dismissive of their campaign to the Salon reporter. But to be fair, it is true: I wouldn't look to the organization for science on global warming.)
What I do look to PETA for is defense of animals and I was reminded of them yesterday when reading the rural life column from Verlyn Klinkenborg on the New York Times editorial page. The first paragraph tried to warn me away, but perversely (and purposefully?) it only encouraged me to read on.
"Very soon, a farmer and his son will come to the farm to kill our two pigs," Klinkenborg writes and adds that if the sentence bothers you, you should probably stop reading -- "and you should stop eating pork."
The rest of the column is fairly lyrical. Klinkenborg says he "truly love(s) being with the pigs," talking to them and scratching them behind the ears.
He even goes as far as to say that he and his wife will watch the actual kill: "We do watch. That's part of the job. It's how we come to understand what the meat itself means."
What Klinkenborg doesn't answer is why? Why does he -- why do we -- feel the need to kill to eat? Millions of vegetarians survive on this planet. Some of us (like me) even thrive a bit too much if you know what I mean.
What has always puzzled me is how a person like Klinkenborg -- who acknowledges that the creatures under his care are feeling beings -- can then turn around and watch their slaughter for nothing more than a few slabs of bacon, a sausage patty or two and a few pork chops.
It's one thing if you don't believe animals are feeling beings. If you believe they are nothing more than standing slabs of meat to be consumed for our pleasure.
It's another if you can write the following sentence:
"One day soon I'll step into the pen and give the pigs a thorough scratching, behind the ears, between the eyes, down the spine. Their tails will straighten with pleasure."
"It will," he writes, "be the last time. I will know it. And they simply won't."
I could quibble with that last sentence -- I believe animals know much more than we give them credit for -- but I won't.
I just want to know why. Maybe PETA can check in with Klinkenborg and find out.
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Comments
Matt Prescott — Oct 26 2007 02:01 PM
You're so very right, Phil. There is such a disconnect between the factory (farm) and the plate that most people don't think twice about the animals they eat, if they eat meat. I believe that most people aren't like Klinkenborg and would stop eating meat if they could spend time with farmed animals and see how they are individuals with feelings, etc (just like dogs and cats). Its like Paul McCartney said, "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we'd all be vegetarians."
Anyone who wants to learn more about the interesting abilities and personalities of pigs, chickens, fish, etc can check out the "Hidden Lives of Animals" features on www.GoVeg.com