The Citizen, 1992-09-23, Page 17Speaking
of Farming
By Keith Roulston
IlTio is really cruel to animals?
The entire summer issue of Ontario Chicken, the newsletter of the
Ontario Chicken Producers Marketing Board, is devoted to the animals
rights issue. The issue was no doubt brought to a head by the demonstra
tion of 40 animal rights activists outside a Swiss Chalet restaurant in
July to protest the restaurant's use of chicken. Shouting "hey, hey, Swiss
Chalet, how many chickens did you kill today?" they marched up and
down the crowded sidewalk, handing out literature that accused agricul
ture and the food industry of being cruel to animals.
Two representatives of the Animal Alliance of Canada are inter
viewed in Ontario Chicken. Andrea Maenza says her group wants to do
more to help animals in "confinement agriculture". Tita Zierer, director
of the group which she says has 20,000 supporters, sees a parallel
between animal rights and other issues. "As a society we just tend to
take for granted the way we treat animals in much the same way we
treated women over the years or the way we treated people of colour.
Treating animals more humanely is the next logical step in developing a
more compassionate lifestyle."
She's got a point, of course. You have to be a Pollyanna not to realize
some farmers have treated animals as a commodity over the years.
There has been cruelty on the part of farmers who look for short-cuts to
more profits by keeping animals in substandard accommodation, or just
take out their temper by hauling off and smashing an animal with a boot
or a two-by-four.
Yet these women are also sadly ignorant (from their pictures they
look so young they have a lot of life to be experienced yet). People who
are growing up in big cities like Toronto these days have very little
knowledge of what nature is really like.
I currently have a couple of hens puttering around my yard. Accord
ing to these women these chickens probably live the kind of life they
should live if they are to be kept in captivity at all. But they are hens
who have seen a lot of terror in their lives. They are the remnant of a
flock of a dozen hens ravished by a visit from a marauding weasel who
found his way through a tiny hole in the hen house one fall and went on
a killing frenzy, wiping out all but three birds.
In their idyllic life outdoors scratching and pecking, my two hens
probably use more adrenaline in one day than commercially raised broil
ers do in their short lives. Any large bird that floats over the yard will
send them scurrying in panic, thinking it might be a hawk that will end
their lives.
There are probably only two minutes of panic in the lives of a five to
six week old broiler chicken: when it's caught and caged for shipping to
the processing plant, and when it's hung on the line a few seconds before
it is humanely killed. The rest of its life it has food brought to it, is pro
tected from cold and sheltered from predators. Probably the greatest
problem it has is boredom (much the same as urban dwellers who have
their food and shelter easily attained and have to add some excitement to
their lives by getting involved in causes like animal welfare). Nature, by
contrast, is a pretty cruel place, where any moment could be the last,
where animals can never relax for a moment.
Every creature on earth will die someday and each of us will feel
moments of terror either by the actual approach of death, or by the fear
that death might approach. Whether human or animal, however, which
is better: to live every day in fear and worry about having enough to eat,
or to live a comfortable life until that moment comes? If Ms Zierer and
Ms Maenza can truthfully say they'd rather live free in fear then in cap
tivity with safety and comfort, I expect to see them moving to the free
dom and danger of the wilds of northern Ontario any day now.
Ear implants
This beef steer received ear implants from Anna Demarchi of Syntex Animal Health Inc.
Friday during Co-op Beef Day held at Brian Coultes beef farm near Belgrave. Several area
beef farmers such as (top of fence, left to right) Bill Sproul of Auburn, Len Archambault of
Walkerburn (bottom of fence, left to right) Greg Higgins of Brussels and his brother Bruce
watched while various company representatives demonstrated implanting and de-lousing.
Laird Currie, a feed representative with Co-op helped organize the event on behalf of United
Co-operatives Inc.
FARMERS
Town and Country Homemakers
need volunteers for new program
Town and Country Homemakers
is short of volunteers for its new
frozen meal program.
"The resource in the shortest sup
ply is volunteers," says Joan Stam
per, area coordinator for the Home
Support Program.
"We need people to offer one or
two hours per week whenever they
can."
She explained the frozen meal
program was started to meet the
needs of a rural population.
"We needed to provide-a meal
service for people who are in need
but are not served by regular hot
meal programs," she said.
The simple-to-prepare foods are
easily heated in a standard oven or
microwave.
"Clients are able to choose from
a large selection of meals. They
have the freedom to choose what
and when they want to eat and they
can maintain their independence,"
says Ms. Stamper.
The frozen meals are delivered
once a week in packages of six.
"Clients welcome a volunteer
with a smile and some good din
ners," says Ms. Stamper. "Once
volunteers become interested, they
will realize what a valuable service
it is."
For more information about the
frozen Meals of Wheels program or
to ask about volunteering for Town
and Country Homemakers call Ms.
Stamper at 357-3222.
Thieves break in
for nothing
If you're going to plan a break-in,
you should make sure there's some
thing to take.
Would-be thieves broke into the
Blyth arena food booth during the
evening of Sept. 15-16 by breaking
a lock on the door, only to find
there was nothing there, a
spokesperson from the Wingham
OPP said.
Police have no supects.
We re ready to apply your Reglone on white
beans and Roundup/Banvel on
wheat stubble.
Our Hi Boy Sprayers are specially equipped
with - narrow row-crop tires - wheel shields -
wide 60' booms - foam markers.
To maximize crop quality and yields, call
Atwood
Telephone
356-2292
Division of
Parrish & Heimbecker, Limited
Walton
527-1540
887-9261