Most people agree that animals should be protected from cruel practices, but there seems an ever widening gulf between the demands of militant "animals rights" warriors and the Australian farming industry. The battle has raged over eggs produced by " battery hens " and shoppers are now confused by claims that some eggs come from " free range " operations, while others are produced by hens which live in " barns ".
Strangely, today's eggs also seem to have brown shells, despite the majority of laying stock being " white " birds. Research has shown that customers seem to think brown shelled eggs come from plump " Red " hens, which they envisage happily scratching in the dirt in wide fields. In reality, white hens are fed a mix of dye that colours shells brown - and that seems to keep everyone happy !
The really strange attitude comes when " animal liberationists " counter the fur trade. Women wearing expensive fur coats to social events have been confronted and have had paint thrown over them and their garments. Stores that sell fur have been picketed and it seems that there is a total rejection of fur as a fashion item in some quarters. This is despite the fact that fur bearing animals are " farmed " in similar fashion to sheep and cows. They have expensive pelts and farmers maintain them humanely to provide a form of clothing that has been fashionable since the time of the Pyramids.
Now it seems that a new phase of the farm wars is about to evolve. There are demands that sheep and cattle dogs be banned from herding animals, or if farmers persist - that they only do so wearing muzzles.
This ignores the fact that well trained dogs are invaluable in working with a farmer. Occasionally they encounter a renegade animal and deliver a light nip at it's heels to persuade it to cooperate. This draws the ire of the eco-warriors.
Animal rights militancy has adopted guerilla tactics to gain evidence of what they consider animal cruelty. Deception is used to smuggle hidden cameras onto farms and processing factories, and now their attention is being turned onto the wide open spaces of the farming community. It is proposed that camera equipped drones will be used to overfly areas where animals are farmed to keep up visual inspections. This raises the issues of privacy - and the risk of collision with aircraft and helicopters used in the farming industry.
It also tends to bring into focus the divergence of views between city based animal liberationists and a practical farmer on farm practices. We have recently had a bushfire season that has left many animals critically burned. Farmers dispense mercy with a rifle. It is a quick and humane method of putting a suffering animal out of it's misery, but that could be unacceptable to some animal rights people. We could see a demand that rifle euthanasia be banned and replaced with a veterinary person with a needle.
Animal husbandry has evolved over centuries and running a successful farm requires farmers to keep their stock healthy and in good condition. That is a constant battle with nature. Mother Nature regularly dispenses fires and floods, and famines exist in that cycle. There is no point animal liberationists demanding that animals be fed if no food exists and the farmer is unable to buy food. The only options are to sell the animals - or put them down. If no buyers are offering, that choice constricts to a single option. The choice of timing is up to the farmer - and he will delay as long as possible in the hope of a miracle.
The animal liberation industry is capable of generating a lot of noise in the media and politicians can then be persuaded to pass silly laws. It seems that some people who lack the faintest clue on how farming works are inclined to demand that animals be treated as human beings - and that legislation be passed to bring this into law.
It is just so easy for what seems to be a good idea to morph into an impractical crusade !
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