[Gpdd] re: [MISC] <guinea pigs fed to reptiles>

Lauren Cordeiro petunia_loo at yahoo.com
Sun Mar 28 20:17:11 EST 2004


Dear Pablo,
I understand your disgust with the company you mentioned and the way they talk about animals that would have been family to us as if they were merely meat. I too feel sickened when I see things like this. But let me try to explain how I feel about the "animals as food" issue.
 
I have been a vegan for about 3 years since I learned about the kind of treatment animals in slaughterhouses and factory meat & dairy "farms" recieve. Honestly, it can be hard at times but I choose to stay with it, and it makes me feel good. I am not strictly morally opposed to an animal being sacrificed for another to stay alive. However, I do feel that at least we shouldn't force animals to live miserable and sickening lives for years until they are finally killed, and often times killed in a brutal manner. I have respect for people who choose to kill their own meat instead of turning a blind eye to the reality of it. However, I couldn't bring myself to do this, and it's not reasonable in my life, so I am happy with the vegan lifestyle.
 
That said, I do own rats, who eat both meat and non-meat food. It would not be humane to deprive these animals of the food that they need to stay healthy. I give them human-quality grains, Wysong dog food, and raw meat with nutritional supplements. The meat I buy for them is "free-range" and the chicken I buy is also approved by the humane society.
 
I love all animals, carnivores and herbivores. I personally don't feel it is wrong to own a carnivorous pet, including cats, dogs, snakes, fish, or whatever. However, there are many things we as pet owners can do to try and minimize the suffering that is caused by feeding our animals meat (ie, buying human grade, "free-range" meat).
 
I believe, although am not positive, that it is most healthy to feed reptiles whole animals. However, reptile owners can and should do a number of things to minimize or eliminate the suffering of the animnals that are sacrificed.
1) it is encouraged by many in the reptile community to end the feeding of live prey to their predatory pets. Not only is this a horribly stressful and sickening way for the animal to die, but from the reptile owners' point of view the small animals can actually pose a threat to the reptile when, understandibly, she defends herself.
2) The best and most humane way to safely euthanize a small animal used for feeding is with carbon dioxide, a gas which causes them to "go to sleep." Unfortunately, many reptile owners employ more cruel and sickening methods, which I will not describe here, which should be in my opinion outlawed and those restrictions strictly enforced.
3) One of the most important things that people inhumanely neglect is the living conditions of the prey animals prior to euthanasia. Animals used as prey should be kept in clean, well ventilated, and humane environments similar to their natural habitat. Unfortunately, this is not often enforced... I was recently watching "Animal Police" on Animal Planet, and the animal control officers seized a snake from an owner who wasn't supposed to have one, and they discovered a filthy, feces-ridden ten gallon aquarium, without food or water, in the guy's dark and dingy garage filled with about twenty living pet rats - and they didn't even think to press charges of animal cruelty. All they said was "Eeew, rats." Disgusting.
 
Sadly, there is a huge double-standard for accepted living conditions of animals kept as pets and animals used as food. If we even have laws that apply to treating "feeder" animals with compassion and respect, they are rarely enforced. What I advocate is that people with carnivores as pets put as much effort as possible into ensuring that the meat fed to their animals did not cause massive suffering - even if that means raising and euthanizing the animals themselves in a clean, spacious, and stimulating environment. 
 
If I had a reptile, I would NOT buy from the company you mentioned, because almost definitely their animals did not recieve humane treatment or a decent quality of life. I would probably buy them "free-range" meat, or, if they had to be fed whole animals, give the animals an excellent quality of life (although I couldn't attempt to bond with the animals, I just couldn't) and euthanize them humanely. That, I think, would be the best way.
 
This issue also is one that concerns me a great deal, and I just wanted to share with you my thoughts on it.
 
Lauren, Piglet & Pooh Bear the guinea pigs, Velvet & Mohawk the rats, and Bart the betta and his zebra danio friends.


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