HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-03-19, Page 42PAGE A-22. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 1997.
Agriculture '97
Animal husbandry goes far beyond economics
A way of life
Farmers such as Dave Linton of Morris Twp, who run
comparatively smaller operations say farming is a way of
life, not only for the money. It is to their benefit to co
operate and become allies with those in the animal rights
movement to ensure high standards of animal welfare.
Professor Bernard Rollin, centre, of Colorado State University, was the guest speaker of a
recent meeting hosted by Dave Linton, of Morris Twp. left, regarding the issue of farming
and the animal rights movement. Speaking with Prof. Rollin and Linton during a break was
Chris Hills, a Huron County pork producer. While visiting the area, the professor was a
guest of the Linton family.
speare last fall, Rollin said, iOO per
cent of the farmers present felt the
animals had rights. "They just
aren't the same rights the radicals
want to give them."
Rollin says he has talked for
more than 10,000 ranchers and cat
tlemen over the years and was
proud to be the guy who got them
to take some courageous stands. A
few years ago, for instance, when
Mexican cattle were first allowed
into the U.S. because of North
American Free Trade Agreement,
there was concern that they might
spread brucellosis and tuberculosis..
The United States Department of
Agriculture decided Mexican cattle
should be branded on their faces for
easy identification. Heifers were
spayed on the Mexican side of the
border without using anesthesia.
Animal rights activists in New
York took out full page advertise
ments with photographs of the
branding process. The ads con
tained the telephone number of the
USDA and precipitated 3,000 to
4,000 calls a day to the department.
"However the Secretary of Agricul
ture was not moved by urban tele
phone calls."
But when Rollin brought it to the
attention of Colorado cattlemen.
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they would enter into this agree
ment because it would be better for
them than nature," Rollin said.
This goes far beyond economics,
he said. He told of a Colorado cat
tleman whose herd was infected
this winter by a bad outbreak of
scours. The rancher admitted he
had spent far more in veterinary
bills than the animals were worth,
but never thought twice about it
because it was just understood that
he had to take care of his animals.
"That kind of agriculture is basi
cally what people want out of
farms," he said. "There is good evi
dence in the United States and
Britain, going back to the '60s that
people don't oppose confinement
(practices) only because they don't
know about it." The change in
Britain came when a book called
Animal Machines described how
animals in large, intensive opera
tions were raised. Within six
months the government was forced
to appoint a commission which,
after study, said that any system
that "doesn't respect the animals
biological natures, that forces them
to the extremes of their coping abil
ity, is unacceptable".
Rollin said it is clear from public
opinion surveys that the majority of
people are prepared to continue
using animals and animal products
but if something isn't done about
industrial, confinement, assembly-
line agriculture, there will be a gen
eration that turns against that
acceptance. Sixty per cent of stu
dents entering one U.S. upper-class
college are vegetarian. A new
Zealand researcher told Rollin that
its chic among teenagers in that
country to be vegetarians, largely
for moral reasons, not health rea
sons.
"I don’t believe that kids are turn
ing vegetarian for health reasons
(they think they're immortal at that
age) but I do believe that not only
kids, but the general population, is
concerned about the treatment of
farm animals. They want animals to
lead decent lives. They want a fair
exchange for our use of animals."
A recent survey in Britain found
97 per cent of people felt animals
had rights. In the U.S., 80-85 per
cent of people believe that animals
have rights, but among the ranchers
he's talked to, 95 per cent believe
animals have rights. When he
spoke to pork producers in ^hake-
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