The Inner World of Farm Animals: Their Amazing Intellectual, Emotional, and Social Capacities

[leftchick]

I just may go from vegetarian to vegan after this....

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2123808/the_inner_world_of_farm_animals/



The Inner World of Farm Animals: Their Amazing Intellectual, Emotional, and Social Capacities

http://www.amazon.com/Inner-World-Farm-Animals-Intellectual/dp/1584797487

Chickens can count. Pigs are smarter than poodles. Cows form close friendships. Turkeys know one another by their voices, and sheep recognize faces of other sheep, and of people. Far from lacking thoughts and feelings, barnyard creatures demonstrate sophisticated problem-solving abilities, possess rich social lives, and feel a wide range of emotions. In other words, they're much like humans in countless ways. And, like us, they suffer physical pain and mental anguish. In Intelligence, Empathy & Love, Amy Hatkoff combines the latest research on the emotional and intellectual capacities of farm animals with touching stories and soulful photos to bring their inner world to life and she joins the growing call for treating these sentient, feeling beings with greater compassion and respect.

[Captain Hilts]

1. Pigs are smarter than most dogs, so executing them can be troublesome. nt

[KittyWampus]

8. they can also take a human down, like a dog. And eat them. My friend who grew up in Northern Europe

said it was an old story to tell kids- about the farmer who went out to feed the pigs and didn't come back.

[Sequoia]

17. There's a famous book about Vietnam

that tells a story about some GIs watching a pig take out the intestines of another person. One of the troopers couldn't stand it and shot the guy being devoured. It was so horrible, I never forgot it and stay away from the hog pen durning the county fairs.

[Thothmes]

38. Happend during the American Civil War

I remember reading a letter home from a Union soldier describing hogs feeding on the bodies of Union and Confederate dead after the Battle of the Wilderness in the Spring of 1864.

[alphafemale]

39. Remember in "The Wizard of Oz" when Dorothy falls in the hog pen?

I think that generation knew exactly how dangerous that was. That scene always rattled my mother.

Yes, we should be good stewards of the earth and not be indifferent to casual cruelty, but this notion that animals are somehow nobler than us when they have no qualms about eating each other is a naive and frivolous notion.

[Dogmudgeon]

2. Cognitive chauvinist!

Think of all our friends in the (lower) Animal, Plant, Fungus, and Protist kingdoms!

Just because they can't think like a pig or a poodle is no reason to kill them!!!!1!!

:cry:

--d!
Yes, it's tongue-in-cheek. Enjoy!

[damntexdem]

5. Yeah, look at our genocide on the poor smallpox virus.

And then we harass so many bacteria into developing antibiotic resistance. What a crying shame!

[G_j]

9. very funny

now lets take your reasoning to it's ultimate conclusion.
the world is overpopulated, so lets get rid of a few million.

[provis99]

11. well, thats why we have the joys of war, don't we? Overpopulation?

[flvegan]

3. Reason #1 on the "why I don't eat/wear/etc them" list of mine.

[demmiblue]

4. I think this was the book that Ellen gave her studio audience today.

I caught a little of her show, but I swear this was the book.

I think she has gone Vegan... good on you Ellen!

P.S. working on it!

[leftchick]

6. yes it was

I am a member of the Farm Sanctuary and actually visited their sanctuary in Watkins Glen NY a couple of years ago. They are just a fantastic organization. I especially loved their pig heaven! If I did not have to battle my sons I would be Vegan. At least we do not eat mammals.

http://www.farmsanctuary.org/

here is a wonderful video of piglets at play....


http://farmsanctuary.typepad.com/sanctuary_tails/2009/03/piglets-at-play.html

The never-before-released video below featuring our very own Sprinkles and Tim playing in the mud is too cute and funny not to share. These sweet pigs have since grown into two very big boys, but the joyful spirit they exuded as tiny piglets is still alive and well today. Last winter, Sprinkles came to us as a nervous, skinny little piglet. After a rough start to life on a factory farm, he was terrified of the world for good reason. Found on a smaller farm in upstate New York, Tim was the runt of his litter and suffered from an injured foot and a large hernia. If he hadn’t been rescued, he would have died slowly from neglect.

Alone, these little pigs were timid and sad. And though they warmed up to us with a little time, they each still longed for the company of another pig. Lucky for them, we had the exact medicine they needed to pull through and introduced the two as soon as we could. Bonded within moments, Sprinkles and Tim received one of the greatest gifts any animal could ask for — friendship to last a lifetime. As you’ll soon see in the video, the two were unstoppable from the time they met. Still every bit as confident and happy as young adults, Sprinkles and Tim remain the best of friends.

[aikoaiko]

7. meh, they are still food and taste great.

time for dinner.

[orwell]

10. Cool...

...thanks for the post.

[G_j]

12. K&R

[earth mom]

13. Thanks for posting this.

Even though it makes me sad. :cry:

[LWolf]

14. Uh oh.

I'm not surprised, having lived with a few farm animals in my time. Currently? Chickens, one sheep, and the ever present horses.

I like my horses better than many people, and have felt that way my entire 49 years.

I'm ambivalent about the vegetarian/vegan thing. When I can find appropriate non-soy protein sources for the diet to control my metabolic disorder, I'll give up animal protein.

Until then, I settle for avoiding factory-raised meat in favor of that raised and processed in a healthier, more humane fashion.

Of course, if I had grown up eating right, I probably never would have developed a metabolic disorder to begin with.

This thread ought to be interesting, since this topic tends to bring out emphatic extremes.

:popcorn:

[leftchick]

15. I don't eat chicken or turkey because I like it

my husband and boys have really put the pressure on me to make it for them so I have it too. Though I do make many dishes with tofu/soy/veggie ground round. Once a way long time ago, I did not eat chicken for a decade because it grossed me out. I will read this book and perhaps get the will to just cook for myself and let them have their non-mammal meat.

[JSK]

19. I don't cook meat for my hubby

All the meals I make at home are veggie. If he wants meat (and he does) he can order it when we eat out.

[Sequoia]

16. I just might cry if I read that book.

Animals are wonderful. This book hasn't even been released yet. How'd you find out about it?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

18. I've done a limited no-meat thing before.

Many years ago while I was in college, I stopped eating beef, pork and chicken because of the grease.

I did this for a year. I felt a lot better. I still ate turkey, milk, eggs, cheese, and fish.

Just cutting out those three kinds of meat helped me a lot.

I still eat milk and eggs. I have trouble getting enough protein otherwise, and I am allergic to soy and peanuts. I love salmon.

[leftchick]

20. kick

for the farm sanctuary I once hoped to have.

[Kablooie]

21. I have heard that several Nobel Prize winners were chickens.

And now I'm waiting for my martini to wear off.

[Hanse]

22. I'm more interested in the more tastier inner world of farm animals.

Chickens are delicious. Pigs go great with applesauce. Cows form close friendships which lead to veal. Turkeys are a little bland but make for great soup, and sheep recognize faces of other sheep, and of people who recognize boti kebabs. Far from lacking flavor and protein, barnyard creatures demonstrate sophisticated palate-pleasing abilities, possess rich menu options, and feel a wide range of preparatory techniques. In other words, they're feeding humans in countless ways. And, like us, they consume other animals.

[1]

23. i do have to admit, being raised a city boy, that i always thought cattle were pretty much dumb...

but i have had the opportunity to observe cows and bulls and calves over the last six years...

they really do have their own societies. they hang in their own cliques (much like the du lounge), they can be curious, mean, fun loving, good parents and bad. calves are a blast to watch. so like children.

but then i remind myself that if people didn't eat meat, and there was no profit to be made from raising these animals, their existence would have no value to our society and they would disappear from the earth.

so do i want all of them to just disappear? or is it cool that they just get to live their lives in their own way for the years until it is time for them to become my food?

i prefer them to live.



and spare me the factory farm videos. where i live a cattle's existence is pretty much like you see in the "california cheese" commercials. most cattle in the world do not spend any time in factory farms...

[amborin]

27. unless we developed a culture that valued them, as in India

[handmade34]

29. There's not much chance farm animals will disappear...

...most cattle do exist on factory farms, just maybe not those right around you. (80% of the 35 million beef cattle slaughtered annually in the U.S. into the hands of four huge corporations- factoryfarming.com) and small dairy farms are on the outs with most milk coming from large agribusiness farms that keep cows in a lot, being milked three times a day.

I do not eat meat but have in the past and I have raised pigs, dairy cows, beef cows, chickens, turkeys, ducks, rabbits, etc. and I have butchered them... I have had pigs that were smarter than any dog and some people. I have seen animals exhibit all kinds and levels of smarts, intiution and logical/illogical behavior. The healthiest thing we could do as a society is limit(or eliminate) our consumption of meat and what we do eat should be raised humanely and in an environmentally sound way. It is about balance. I love farm animals and they won't disappear. There is plenty of room for them in the balance for limited meat consumption, to graze lands only suited for that purpose, to provide needed fertilizer(manure), companionship(better than some dogs and cats- and there is a stigma about eating them!), byproducts-eggs and milk, and on...

[1]

32. "There's not much chance farm animals will disappear..."???

if people stop eating meat, what is the incentive to raise cattle?

[handmade34]

33. I don't expect people will completely stop eating meat

its about balance

[1]

34. oh, ok. i get you. so its still ok if i have a steak every other meal or so...

you anti-meat folks confuse me sometimes. i thought you wanted all people to stop eating meat.

therefore making all of the cows disappear.

you get my point, right?

[underpants]

24. Shit I was over them and worried about the robots

Some are more equal than others

[amborin]

25. birds share many of these capabilities, too

[amborin]

26. have you read Dawkins?

he and many others are of the view that humans have no right to maltreat and extirpate other species on this planet

[leftchick]

37. thank you for that

no I have not and had no idea Dawkins expressed this. I also totally agree.

[Lorax]

28. Cool.

This is one of the reasons why I feel we have a responsibility to raise them responsibly and humanely. But ultimately, they are food, that's a fact of life, and I don't feel the least bit guilty about eating farm animals.

[handmade34]

30. no need to feel guilty

but, fact of life? just because we have done something repeatedly doesn't mean it's the best thing to do or correct or healthy or... animals can be food, not always food and not necessarily food. Some cultures eat cats; not a fact of life for me. Its a culturally norm, not a fact of life.

[omega minimo]

31. Some pigs are more equal than others

[Norrin Radd]

35. kr

[HamdenRice]

36. We should return part of the west to the Great America Buffalo Herd and harvest them

That would convert lots of dying marginal farmland back to prarie while providing lots of high quality meat in a humane way.