Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
such as domestic cats or foxes to cope with the birds and rodents, but there is no shortage
of those who will not countenance such brutality. For example:
The animals in our home are vegan like me. The dogs - Shim and Pluto - have
been brought up on a commercialized 'complete' soya-protein food … I supervise
them strictly when out walking and do not allow scavenging. They do of course some-
times chase rabbits or squirrels, but never catch or injure one … Because I cannot bear
to have half alive mice or birds brought home and teased by my cats, the latter wear
extra loud bells on their collars. This may prevent them being successful as hunters,
although they still enjoy stalking and using their predatory instincts … My cats - my
companions Brindle, Suzie and Miracle, follow the feeding regime advocated by the
Vegan Society.
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This passage causes one to wonder, first of all, if vegan soya production can be as ef-
ficient as claimed if large amounts have to be fed to companion animals whose original
purpose was to eat pests and unwanted meat, but whose purpose now is to provide vegans
with a vestigial link with the animal kingdom which they have otherwise rejected from
their lives; and secondly whether the author has ever given any thought to the difficulties of
controlling mice and rats in a vegan society. There is even wackier stuff out on the internet:
vegetarian ferret food, a vegan Rat Refuge, and a much replicated story about a lioness on
the West Coast of the USA who refused to eat meat (though most accounts do not mention
that she died of a virus infection shortly after making her first public appearance).
Let us assume, however, that on the other side of the fence wolves and pumas will not be
weaned on to a soya diet, and the vegans will be content to let Nature continue in its nor-
mal way, red in tooth and claw. What business will the vegan have there? Unable to hunt,
unable to cull, vegan folk may venture in there to look for berries and mushrooms, at the
risk of meeting a large predator. They may come in to harvest timber but in a temperate
clime, if it is a genuine wilderness, it won't carry very good timber. But they will not have a
lot to do there because this is wilderness, Nature from which the human race has resigned.
Mostly they will come in to look.
Nick Fiddes, in his study of the symbolism and semiotics of meat, cites a 1988 British
television advertisement promoting a cereal bar called
Tracker
:
A man in hunting attire is shown tracking a deer through tranquil wooded scenery.
He looks intelligent, strong, tenacious and purposeful. Presently the beast is squarely
in his sights - when it is revealed that he aims to shoot his quarry with a camera,
rather than with a gun. He then relaxes and enjoys his chewy cereal bar. The meaning
is clear. This modern male prefers to appreciate nature's living beauty without having
to injure it.
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