Reminds me of the story of the investigative journalist during the Seoul Olympics, at a market stall selling puppies.

Investigative journalist: "Are these dogs for pets or food?"

Enterprising stall-holder: "Both!"

But seriously, I'm more concerned about the suffering of vegetables, because they have less chance to get away. A carrot when pulled from the ground gives off an audible sob. It's true that it's audible only by other carrots, but that's only because HUMANS DON'T CARE TO HEAR IT!

Chiwawa was bred for food, the aztecs took them along on missions one dog / day.

Careful here 579:

...Seems true the chiwawa was more revered by the Aztecs as a religious icon than it was as a staple food. It is believed, only the lower classes of Aztecs ate dogs; now that seems to run a parallel to the modern day phenomena of the animal trust, in their attempts to align the eating of meat as a plebeian bent.

...Also, the other parallel to the academically aligned “human rights” activists, are the academically aligned “animal rights” activists. Seems to me a more important question to be asked is are they, as a group, one and the same? If so, as I suspect they are, what is the true agenda? Dare I suggest, as part of a conspiracy theory, the agenda is to save all animals from slaughter.

...If correct, then does the truth of the theory lead to an outright attack on all farming of animals for the purpose of food? Evidence suggests, this radical grouping is mutating.

Dan the "dogged" man...

Demystifying slaughtering practices sounds like a good idea to me.

I remember one year being in Bangladesh during Eid ul-Fitr, the celebration at the end of Ramadan where it's traditional for wealthy families to slaughter an animal and share the meat with their poorer neighbours. People would buy their bull which had been specially bred for the purpose, and have it tethered outside their house. At the specified time they would perform the slaughtering themselves, by digging a hole in the ground for the blood to run into, tying the bull's legs together and gently lowering it onto its side, and slitting its throat with a large curved knife while saying a quick prayer. The bull would twitch and struggle a little while silently taking its last breaths, and would then be butchered on the spot, leaving only its entrails in the street to be collected I'm not sure how. The whole process struck me as such a peaceful and dignified way to go that I almost felt like lining up for my turn. Unfortunately I don't imagine my own death will be nearly so joyous and comfortable, nor so useful.

I like eating meat, and I've never come across a convincing argument to suggest that there's anything wrong with killing animals as long as it's done more or less humanely. And I think it would be a really good thing if there was more publicity of the way slaughter occurs, because then people like Monica Merkes wouldn't be able to make blanket accusations that meat eaters were mindlessly supporting cruelty to animals.

Deary me, this article just shows me how some city people are
totally losing touch with the real world.

As it happens, just yesterday I delivered a load of lambs to the
meatworks. They had never even had their tails docked. All they
had done so far was enjoy nature, the sunshine, the abundant pasture
and the scenery. Perhaps the author should actually go to a meatworks
to see what happens when they walk down the line. No screams, no
fear, sheep follow one another, its part of their nature.

Its all over in a split second. Unlike what we do to humans. We
stick them in a home, then wait and watch until they gasp their
last breathe, struggeling for days, weeks, months even.

Death is never pleasant Monika, but let me tell you, my lambs had
it far far easier then you or other people will have it.

Sorry I haven't been around for a while but I haven't seen anything worth commenting on. Unlike some others that comment on everything but never offer a soultion. (it's not their job)

Monika Merkes, another Bleeding Heart Vegie. "Plaintif screams & crys for help from poor little innocent pets being dragged to the place of murder." Her insinuations are enough to make me sick. What a load of Codds Wollop.

Meat's meat. It doesn't matter where it comes from. It's all edible. Farmed or pet, It's all the same. In Nature everything gets eaten by something eventually. Such is the way of the natural world. As someone once said, "Sometimes we root for the deer & sometimes we root for the Cheetah."

As for the advocated of Electrical Stunning. Monika I suggest you stick your ear on an electric fence for a few seconds. Just to find out if it does, or doesn't hurt. In the pursuit of research of course. Slitting the throat without stunning is kinder. The animal just goes to sleep.