Pork = Cruelty

Sadly, despite it being delicious, pork products like ham and bacon almost invariably come from a reality that would be horrifying to most people if they actually witnessed it.
Pigs in the majority of farms in NZ and abroad are treated with extreme and unnecessary cruelty. They are treated in ways that no reasonable person would treat any animal, yet they are as sensitive, sentient and intelligent as dogs [who are also often treated with absolute cruelty by many evil and ignorant people].
I say young people should be educated about what really goes on in the production of the meat they eat so they can make an informed decision about whether or not to actively support the torture of thinking, feeling creatures like pigs.
Would any of you take Babe [from the movie], put him in a cage that he couldn't turn around in and leave him in the dark to suffer for his entire life before then lining him up with his neighbours to be killed one by one as the next one in line watches?

Check out the SAFE site to see how you can help and to read about how Mike King turned from promoting pork to promoting animal welfare once he visited a pig farm in NZ.

Mike King's 45-minute ordeal of pig horror included seeing:

• a dead female pig inside a sow stall

• lame, crippled pigs and others that could barely stand

• pigs either extremely depressed or highly distressed

• bar biting, scars and injuries

• pigs excessively frothing at the mouth

• a lack of clean drinking water and food.

Can you identify which pigs are happy and which pigs are suffering needlessly so you can have bacon, pork chops, ham, etc?

It's difficult to face unpleasant facts that inconvenience you, but can you continue to encourage such cruelty to continue by buying and eating inhumane pork products?
If you simply can't give up pork, try encouraging your family to buy kindly farmed pork products like from  Freedom Farms

What is Economics?

Please investigate/research economics via the internet. Relate your findings here.

Define important terms like:
economics
economies of scale
factors of production
supply
demand
opportunity cost

Please explain why a study of economics is relevant to a study of animal rights as we are investigating through the story of chickens [e.g. Jamie Oliver's "Fowl Dinners"]

McLibel

We watched the movie McLibel because we are studying rights and responsibilities in term three.
Can you tell me what you think the central message of the film was. In other words, without focusing on McDonalds, what were the main issues? Put in terms we understand from literacy learning - i.e. What was the "author's" intention?

Check out the website from the film. There are links to animal rights sites too.

http://www.mcspotlight.org/issues/animals/index.html

i am amazed...

I have a photo of free range chickens on my computer. Every adult I have shown it to at school has laughed as if it's some kind of joke or I'm weird or a stupid greenie to believe that chickens shouldn't be tortured whilst being reared for meat of kept as egg producers. I find this odd and rather unsettling. All of the people involved are church going people. Is this relevant to animal rights ethics or not? [For the record, I am irreligious.]
What do you think of this - should people in a modern educated society realise that such cruelty is unnecessary. Or is it okay to ignore cruelty to animals because it makes it cheaper and easier to have the food we want??? Maybe you don't think animals do suffer or should have rights?
Thus we start to delve into the realms of fact versus opinion.
Another interesting issue is the one about which animals it's alright to eat or not. Who decides? Why some and not others?
People in some African, Asian, Central and South American countries eat endangered primates.
Some people in Scandinavian and Asian countries eat marine mammals like whales.
In South America guinea pigs are eaten.
In some countries horses are eaten - like in France.
Here we eat cows which are considered sacred in other countries.
In some Asian countries people farm and eat dogs, cats, etc.
I have met people in NZ who think it's cool to catch as many fish as they can. I have met people who fish in marine reserves. So why do we humans have such diverse, contradictory yet strongly held views about what is wrong and right when it comes to animals? HEck! Some of us even ate each other until relatively recently.
Why do we hold such different views on things and believe in them so strongly? hmmm....
We humans are strange creatures.