Galway Christmas Market v Cruelty Fest!

Galway K9

Guys,

Let me start off by stating that im not a Vegetarian nor a bleeding heart liberal but it begs beyond belief where we are at, in this day and age.

The Galway christmas market is now serving the following:

• Kangaroo
• Crocadile
• Horse
• Hog

...and i cant even think of the other stuff theyre cooking.

We as species have to eat, and eat out of survival and not pleasure. But we have now developed a TASTE for killing out of fun and pleasure with no justifiable reason at all and killing animals who are just trying to survive.

Im actually shocked that i didnt come across a a menu with "Sweet and sour greyhound".

Whispered

Galway K9 wrote: »

Guys,

Let me start off by stating that im not a Vegetarian nor a bleeding heart liberal but it begs beyond belief where we are at, in this day and age.

The Galway christmas market is now serving the following:

• Kangaroo
• Crocadile
• Horse
• Hog

...and i cant even think of the other stuff theyre cooking.

We as species have to eat, and eat out of survival and not pleasure. But we have now developed a TASTE for killing out of fun and pleasure with no justifiable reason at all and killing animals who are just trying to survive.

Im actually shocked that i didnt come across a a menu with "Sweet and sour greyhound".

Hypocrisy tbh. It doesn't matter what animal is being eaten. Those meats are all commonly eaten in other countries, it's just because you're not used to it. It doesn't mean cruelty any more than the chicken/beef/ham you're going to have for your dinner this evening.

Also because you eat a meat doesn't mean you have a "taste for killing" it. You're simply buying a product, the same as you do when you buy packaged meat in the supermarket.

plonk

You actually think these are some kind of endangered species that are just plucked from the wild for our pleasure. These animals are either farmed or else culled in the wild to prevent their population getting too large.

BengaLover

How on earth is eating pork, beef or chicken ANY different to eating horse, ostrich, whatever..??
Meat is meat.
If you lived in France you would see rabbits hung up in every supermarket and horse steak down every aisle, not to mention boar etc.
I think we as a nation need to widen out a little in our tastes..

ronnie3585

I am happy to report they are all delicious.

Galway K9

This was the attitude i had last week but now starting to change thinking. I agree with the above statements completely tho.

Galway K9

ronnie3585 wrote: »

I am happy to report they are all delicious.

Well the main difference for me with regards a dog and steak is that i have bonded with my fella and so many dogs...

BengaLover

I had a friend over the other day, she brought along an aquantance of hers, who was horrified to hear that we planned to slaughter one of our unwanted cockerels and eat it.
Im like, oh, sorry, i didnt realise you were vegetarian..
She then said she wasnt, but in her words, how could we kill a pet and eat it..
I just cant get over this mentality.
I would far rather eat a chook who had had a happy life than one who had never seen daylight..
What gets me is the people who think other people are awful for doing this, but eat meat themselves...:(:(

Galway K9

My point is where do we draw the line as when is enough ...enough. Like im thinking of going on fish only diet simply on the basis, which animal could i kill and not feel guilty about.

BengaLover

Fish have to be killed too though...
I guess if you dwelt on it long enough eating animals would become pretty distasteful.

kylith

ronnie3585 wrote: »

I am happy to report they are all delicious.

They certainly are. Shame this is in Galway; I'd like a bit of horse.

sue_

I had a 27 year old educated (secondary school teacher) woman say to me last year that it was terrible to take the calves away from cows after calving, until I pointed out where exactly did she think milk came from. Its just people don't think about eating beef, pork or lamb in this country cos we're used to it.

Do you eat chicken?

Free range or intensively farmed? or do you even Know?

Eating an intensively farmed chicken is way worse than horse, kangaroo or crocodile. And is hog not a pig, surely we eat that in this country already?

And before I get a heap of intensively reared chicken farmers complaining, I realise that it is the consumers who are driving this industry, not the farmers. If we all bought free range, they'd produce free range, its just not possible to produce free range at the price the supermarkets pay.

So think about that the next time you go to buy meat

BengaLover

or millk...

Whispered

BengaLover wrote: »

I guess if you dwelt on it long enough eating animals would become pretty distasteful.

Thats the problem with thinking too much

Whispered

BengaLover wrote: »

I would far rather eat a chook who had had a happy life than one who had never seen daylight..

I think this is commendable. If more people did this it would be great. I do see the girls point, I would find it rather difficult to sit at a table with a recently killed "pet", but I do admire people who can do this.

Galway K9 wrote: »

Well the main difference for me with regards a dog and steak is that i have bonded with my fella and so many dogs...

I know many people who have pet sheep/cows/pigs, usually rescues who make a little space for themselves in the life of their rescuer and are never let go. They do have personalities, just like dogs and cats do.

man.about.town

if anything, the animals you listed would be preferable to eat over cows, chicken, lamb etc..

kangeroos are culled in the outback so are never farmed, boar and horse are not commercially farmed and i would imagine crocodile meat isn't farmed but i cant be sure .

my point is, we all know the horrific conditions most chickens and pigs are farmed, unnaturally kept in indoor cramped conditions and mass produced for commercial gain. at least the animals you named have had a more natural free life. i would have no problem tasting any of them

jap gt

i see nothing wrong with it, i have been killing broilers at home for ages, i am also killing turkeys, i would love to see more meat like that become available

reminds me a bit of this ad that was in a paper

BengaLover

kylith wrote: »

They certainly are. Shame this is in Galway; I'd like a bit of horse.

My husband said its like the biggest most succulent steak ever.. I didnt try it, im not a meat lover particularly, can take it or leave it.

BengaLover

BengaLover wrote: »

I had a friend over the other day, she brought along an aquantance of hers, who was horrified to hear that we planned to slaughter one of our unwanted cockerels and eat it.
Im like, oh, sorry, i didnt realise you were vegetarian..
She then said she wasnt, but in her words, how could we kill a pet and eat it..
I just cant get over this mentality.
I would far rather eat a chook who had had a happy life than one who had never seen daylight..
What gets me is the people who think other people are awful for doing this, but eat meat themselves...:(:(

My guess is the word 'pet' is the important thing - would I eat an animal that I considered a pet? No. But I wouldn't have any problem rearing chickens or other animals to be eaten.

It's not as if you decided one day you were hungry and instead of going to the local shop you said "I'd love a bit of dog right now".

fatmammycat

I wouldn't touch horse if you paid me, horses are given various medications over their working lives that could easily make them unfit for human consumption. On top of that, a lot of the animals in the auction houses ( kill pens in the states) are just unwanted stock animals, used to being handled by humans from birth, trusting, pets in some cases. It seems a particularly hard way for an animal to go to slaugher and there has been a lot of reports of horses suffering terribly in the process.

planetX

I'm veggie, and intensive farming, long range transport before conveyer belt killing is my reason. People raising and killing their own animals on site is infinitely preferable, and I'd do it myself if I had any need for meat.
If you want to avoid the cruellest meat, avoid intensively farmed pork, neatly packaged to look like it never lived.

EGAR

fatmammycat wrote: »

I wouldn't touch horse if you paid me, horses are given various medications over their working lives that could easily make them unfit for human consumption. On top of that, a lot of the animals in the auction houses ( kill pens in the states) are just unwanted stock animals, used to being handled by humans from birth, trusting, pets in some cases. It seems a particularly hard way for an animal to go to slaugher and there has been a lot of reports of horses suffering terribly in the process.

Do you have any idea how many meds the average cow/bull etc gets during their lifetime?

Pigs for example are alot smarter than all the other domestic animals, they can solve problems, become extremely tame etc - yet they are slaughtered and eaten.

ALL animals going to conventional slaughterhouses suffer, not just horses.

I think if we were all to kill our own food then there would be alot more vegetarians in the world.

Cherry Blossom

fatmammycat wrote: »

I wouldn't touch horse if you paid me, horses are given various medications over their working lives that could easily make them unfit for human consumption. On top of that, a lot of the animals in the auction houses ( kill pens in the states) are just unwanted stock animals, used to being handled by humans from birth, trusting, pets in some cases. It seems a particularly hard way for an animal to go to slaugher and there has been a lot of reports of horses suffering terribly in the process.

No different from cattle! The same rules, time limits and rigmarole applys medicating to horses that applies to any other species of livestock. Don't get me wrong I have never or would never eat horse meat or anything else vaguely gamey but that's just my personal choice. I think we'd have have a lot less equine welfare issues if production of horsemeat for the food chain was more popular in this country!

dvet

fatmammycat wrote: »

I wouldn't touch horse if you paid me, horses are given various medications over their working lives that could easily make them unfit for human consumption.

I agree with you in that I wouldn't choose to eat horse meat myself. But that is just out of sentimentality really

Just so you know though, all animals that go for human consumption HAVE to be safe and free of all antibiotic residues/other medicines. There are really strict laws about this: for instance, horses that have been given bute IV automatically get it recorded on their passports and may never go for human consumption. Some other types of medicine (e.g. penicillin) can be given to these horses but a certain time period must have passed before they are slaughtered. Samples are then taken from the carcase to ensure the meat is safe. And horses with unknown histories/no passport can't ever be slaughtered, because their medication history isn't known. So there's no worries on that side of things

And it's not just horses - there are strict laws like this for all animals that go for human consumption, cattle/pigs/chickens etc. (the boring facts I know eh!) :rolleyes:


Edit: just saw AJ's post now, saying pretty much the same thing! I am such a slow typer, hehe!

BengaLover

Having said all that, im not much of a meat eater not because of any scruples, just not that keen, and i dont really believe we need meat in our diet.
Like i dont think milk is for us either, its for baby cows, but i buy and use it like everyone else.
There are many alternatives, we are just so programmed to think this stuff is beneficial to our health, its not really!

Cherry Blossom

BengaLover wrote: »

Having said all that, im not much of a meat eater not because of any scruples, just not that keen, and i dont really believe we need meat in our diet.
Like i dont think milk is for us either, its for baby cows, but i buy and use it like everyone else.
There are many alternatives, we are just so programmed to think this stuff is beneficial to our health, its not really!

Try telling that to my leg muscles when they are screaming for more protein after a schooling session with a difficult horse or my biceps after a first time lunger

Chris_Heilong

farm folk will always know where their milk and meat come from, city folk think it comes from the super market.

Whispered

What about non city folk who don't live on a farm, what do they think. :eek:

tudlytops

Galway K9 wrote: »

Guys,

Let me start off by stating that im not a Vegetarian nor a bleeding heart liberal but it begs beyond belief where we are at, in this day and age.

The Galway christmas market is now serving the following:

• Kangaroo
• Crocadile
• Horse
• Hog

...and i cant even think of the other stuff theyre cooking.

We as species have to eat, and eat out of survival and not pleasure. But we have now developed a TASTE for killing out of fun and pleasure with no justifiable reason at all and killing animals who are just trying to survive.

Im actually shocked that i didnt come across a a menu with "Sweet and sour greyhound".

Before i say anything else, i am a meat eater and will continue to be.

So its ok to eat, chicken, cow, pork etc, but when it comes to Kangaroo, Crocadile, Horse etc we are some sort of animal????

Why is it ok to eat say chicken but it is cruel to ear Kangaroo???

Sorry OP, don't get your post

tudlytops

jap gt wrote: »

i see nothing wrong with it, i have been killing broilers at home for ages, i am also killing turkeys, i would love to see more meat like that become available

reminds me a bit of this ad that was in a paper

LOL, thank you for the laugh

Vodkat

OP I think you have bitten off more than you can chew!!

fatmammycat

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

No different from cattle! The same rules, time limits and rigmarole applys medicating to horses that applies to any other species of livestock. Don't get me wrong I have never or would never eat horse meat or anything else vaguely gamey but that's just my personal choice. I think we'd have have a lot less equine welfare issues if production of horsemeat for the food chain was more popular in this country!

I base this in read reports. eg- http://www.examiner.com/pet-rescue-in-national/canada-bill-to-prohibit-horse-slaughter-for-human-consumption-proposed
Cattle are always considered livestock from birth and thus part of the food chain. Horses are not considered edible food until they have little or no value to an owner -then they become eligible for slaughter. Before that they could and often do undergo many medical treatments that say bullocks would never be subjected to.
To your last point, i think we would have a lot less equine welfare if horse breeding was properly regulated.

tudlytops

fatmammycat wrote: »

I base this in read reports. eg- http://www.examiner.com/pet-rescue-in-national/canada-bill-to-prohibit-horse-slaughter-for-human-consumption-proposed
Cattle are always considered livestock from birth and thus part of the food chain. Horses are not considered edible food until they have little or no value to an owner -then they become eligible for slaughter. Before that they could and often do undergo many medical treatments that say bullocks would never be subjected to.
To your last point, i think we would have a lot less equine welfare if horse breeding was properly regulated.

That is here, but in many other countries other animals are seen as food stock and then exported here.

In any case, if it is cruel to one, then it is cruel to all. Or is the fact that a cow is born for beef less cruel.

We eat animals, that is what we do, i do not like to see animals suffer, i think they should be killed as quickly and as painless as possible, have the best possible life until they do have to be killed, but in the end we eat animals and depending where you from or where you have lived, we eat different animals.

Not so long ago, loads of irish people eat rabbit, now if you ask the maturity will say, oh no, not a bunny rabbit....

Cherry Blossom

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

No different from cattle! The same rules, time limits and rigmarole applys medicating to horses that applies to any other species of livestock. Don't get me wrong I have never or would never eat horse meat or anything else vaguely gamey but that's just my personal choice. I think we'd have have a lot less equine welfare issues if production of horsemeat for the food chain was more popular in this country!

fatmammycat wrote: »

I base this in read reports. eg- http://www.examiner.com/pet-rescue-in-national/canada-bill-to-prohibit-horse-slaughter-for-human-consumption-proposed
Cattle are always considered livestock from birth and thus part of the food chain. Horses are not considered edible food until they have little or no value to an owner -then they become eligible for slaughter. Before that they could and often do undergo many medical treatments that say bullocks would never be subjected to.
To your last point, i think we would have a lot less equine welfare if horse breeding was properly regulated.

Once again any horse in this country that does not have a passport and full medication history cannot go into the human food chain. If a vet gives a horse bute he has to record it. In Ireland the dept. of agriculture apply very tight rules to all meat for human consumption. Can you clarify what you mean by eligible for slaugher? Horses slaughtered in this country don't go for human consumption they make up the bulk of an ingredient labelled as animal derivitaves in dog food. It's not necessary for this meat to pass any DOA requirments which is why I don't feed crap to my dog. I have no knowledge of the vetrinary rules for meat for human consumption in the USA or Canada so I don't know what happens there. As for the EU the same rules apply to all livestock for human consumption. I'm pretty sure there must be a petting zoo somewhere that has also given bute to a cow, pig or goat. It doesn't matter if there are as they are marked unfit for human consumption. The only reason these meds can be given to the majority of equines is because the majority of equines don't get eaten by us.

I'm quite open to correction if I'm wrong though. As for the regulation of breeding horses, I completely agree with you, but both statements are true!

dvet

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

Once again any horse in this country that does not have a passport and full medication history cannot go into the human food chain.

+1

And similar rules apply to all animals entering the food chain.

You wouldn't believe how strict EU laws are on all aspects of consumer safety...look up EU regulations on food safety if you ever want to reassure yourself/bore yourself to death, it is never ending!

Chris_Heilong

tudlytops wrote: »

Not so long ago, loads of irish people eat rabbit, now if you ask the maturity will say, oh no, not a bunny rabbit....

Yes years ago Rabbit was a very popular dish, but then in order to control their numbers Irish people used poisons and a toxic medication that deformed the rabbits, health warnings went out saying it is not safe to eat and after this eating rabbit fell out of favor with the Irish public.

kylith

BengaLover wrote: »

My husband said its like the biggest most succulent steak ever.. I didnt try it, im not a meat lover particularly, can take it or leave it.

I've only had it as sashimi (i.e. raw), but the flavour is so delicate and the meat so tender. Before I'd have had a little qualm about eating horse, but now I know it's just meat, and is good meat.

Cork24

We eat we eat but what i cant Stand is we kill just for Fur !!
Chinchilla

are lovely animals but does make me sick to see that it takes 150 of the animals just to make one jacket!! this is madness!! why on earth could people buy fur coats ? Right we kill to eat. in alot of Religions it is ok to kill animals for food but it is not ok to kill for pleasure of one. We have more and more cows being farmed just for people to eat.

Monty Burnz

Galway K9 wrote: »

My point is where do we draw the line as when is enough ...enough. Like im thinking of going on fish only diet simply on the basis, which animal could i kill and not feel guilty about.

Well do that and don't be a hypocrite! Eating cows would shock hindus far more than eating dogs would shock you

Don't complain about others eating things that you are not happy about, if you eat things where they feel the same! :pac::pac:

liquoriceall

I grew up on a farm and we always kept turkeys and chickens so I would of helped kill, pluck etc from a young age, we also would of singled out a calf every year for the freezer so Im not sentimental about food, but what gets me is the people who would think it wrong to kill a chicken etc but then go buy battery chickens, eggs and if you said it to them would say 'oh but its cheaper' such a lame excuse think about the quality of life

Whispered

Monty Burnz wrote: »

Well do that and don't be a hypocrite!

Wouldn't a "fish only" diet for the purpose of not wanting to kill animals for food be just as hyprocritical? :pac:

Cork24

We are all on the Food Chain. We Kill Animals. Animals Kill us once in a while..

What makes us the top of the Food Chain ? We kill in Mass production we kill more then what we can eat, I work in a Retail Store and the Amount of Meat that goes into the Bins is a Shame and a Joke

We are killing our food chain. we need to Cap our Fish Targets. at the way we are going we will have no Tuna in the next 4 years and No more Wild Salmon

magentas

true that it sounds wrong or disgusting to people just because it's not a typical dish here.

I've tried the ostrich at the market and I enjoyed it.
I've also eaten shark and cockroaches!
I'm sure that's disgusting to some people but I'm not a vegetarian and unless I was, I have no argument for eating this animal but not that one

magentas

oh I'm going to sound hypocritical but was in korea a few years ago and they eat dog there which would be an exception for me on the grounds that dogs are domesticated animals (and my pets).
they have little/no regulation on the sale of dogs for meat and it was pretty disgusting to see poor little dogs in boxes for sale on the street

Galway K9

magentas wrote: »

oh I'm going to sound hypocritical but was in korea a few years ago and they eat dog there which would be an exception for me on the grounds that dogs are domesticated animals (and my pets).
they have little/no regulation on the sale of dogs for meat and it was pretty disgusting to see poor little dogs in boxes for sale on the street

christ!!!:mad:

Chris_Heilong

Yeah Koreans are known for this, If you want to eat dog(no I don't) in China you would have to find a Korean Restaurant. Its their culture, I have had lots of Koreans tell me dog is "delicious".:eek:

Galway K9

The koreans will be delicious too if the dogs had a chance!

Whispered

But again, it's all about what is "normal" in their culture. I know some muslim guys who think it DISGUSTING that we eat pig, one hindu (well christian with a hindu mother) who cannot understand how we could possibly eat cow and neither group can fathom how I can possibly allow a dog live in my house, never mind say "I love my dog".

We are used to what we grow up with and some of our habits are terrible to other cultures, while most people here would not even think of them.

meathstevie

Chris_Heilong wrote: »

Yes years ago Rabbit was a very popular dish, but then in order to control their numbers Irish people used poisons and a toxic medication that deformed the rabbits, health warnings went out saying it is not safe to eat and after this eating rabbit fell out of favor with the Irish public.

Have about fifteen grazers I harvested myself in the freezer and they're absolutely fine. Trick is to shoot them right and at the right time of the year and you're left with some local free range meat that wasn't industrially farmed or transported twice around the globe before it ends up on a styrofoam tray in your local supermarket.

TooManyDogs

I have to say I have massive respect for anyone who can humanely raise and kill an animal for meat themselves rather than buying off a supermarket shelf. And more people buying meat from small farmers who slaughter humanely themselves will make a difference to getting rid of the mass slaughter houses (hopefully!)

I think that as members at the top of the food chain we have an obligation to give any animal a decent life for as long as possible regardless of whether it's a pet or meat source, it should be well fed appropriate food, have space to wander, appropriate housing, and when the time comes it should be humanely killed with as little distress as possible.

Like others have said the species of animal meat is only strange based on our cultural teachings or habits. I have more of a problem with the way dogs are treated in China and Korea before they are slaughtered and the way they are killed than I do with the fact that they are dogs and therefore pets by western standards.

I couldn't hunt/fish/trap myself so I'm vegetarian