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Beyond the Barnyard

12/18/2013

2 Comments

 
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I watched an excellent and utterly tragic documentary over the weekend called Blackfish (now on netflix). It reveals the exploitation of killer whales and the reckless endangerment of workers by Seaworld and the marine mammal theme park industry. It does this within the backdrop of the story of Tilikum, a captive whale that’s killed at least two people and still performs at Seaworld Orlando today. Blackfish is reminiscent of the dolphin hunting and exploitation documentary The Cove, but focuses its attention squarely onto the mistreatment of whales being kept in captivity. Both films highlight something very important to my work with animals, venturing beyond the barnyard. While the vast majority of interest in animal welfare is directed towards farming, which admittedly does causes the most horrific and widespread problems, many complex and distressing zoological issues exist throughout society. In every place that we interact with our carnal brethren there is great potential for us to cause them needless harm. We have a duty to meticulously inspect each and every one of these interactions to ensure that the creatures with which we share this planet experience no needless suffering at our hands.

When I call myself a kosher omnivore I see it as representative of not only the things I eat but also of any way in which I benefit from the world. When I gain anything from an animal I consider it to be a form of animal consumption, but instead of eating flesh I am consuming something else it has to offer. Be it milk and eggs, companionship, entertainment or the advancement of medical research, if I’m gaining something the animal is almost always losing out. When benefiting from an animal in any way I will always ask myself, how is this creature suffering for my gain?
While most consider it acceptable to cause an animal suffering by killing it for food, justifying suffering in the name of entertainment or companionship is much more difficult. This distinction brings forth the central question behind the Jewish law of tzaar baalei chaim, the biblical commandment which prohibits causing needles suffering to animals. The query which lies behind this law is, what constitutes unnecessary suffering? I encourage all my readers to explore this question within each of their human animal relationships; whether your pet, a wild or farm animal, horse or even just a mouse. Ask yourself how might I be causing this animal to suffer and is this suffering justified by what I am receiving? In the future I'll continue to explore this question through the blog.
In order for Jews to lead righteous lives that can serve as an example to the rest of the world we must be asking ourselves this question constantly. Instead of spending hours debating what kind of sponge to use on Shabbat maybe we need to be spending at least half that time talking about whether we should go to zoos or debating the merits of animal testing. But many people don't have the tools and understanding to even start talking about these issues. So with the aim of remedying the situation I plan to one day start the world’s first Jewish Animal Welfare Institute, that can devote its full time and efforts towards raising awareness and creating dialogue. I dream of a day when humanity at large can let its conscience venture beyond the barnyard, so that we can all become truly kosher omnivores in every one of our human animal relationships.
2 Comments
Jordan
2/7/2014 12:14:54 am

I think you are oversimplifying the negation of the 'mutually beneficial symbiosis' in your comment above. Now, I can't speak to the mutually beneficial symbiosis of the cat ownership and culture, but I'm sure it has its place. I'm actively involved with Dog Rescues, in which they are rescued from inhumane abusive situations, so I do know quite a bit about this topic. Domestication of dogs began as early as 15-30,000 years ago when Wolves with less fearfull and friendlier personalities began hanging out near human camps. Upon being fed, they developed symbiotic relationship with these humans which then a began where these Wolves were fed and bred to be hunting assistants as well as protector of camps. From here, obviously the man and dog relationship began which resulted in thousands of years of breeding for specific duties etc. Couldn't we see this as God's intention for the symbiotic relationship?

Now there has been a lot of irresponsibile puppy mills, breeding for profit or dog shows, etc caused by human err, which I completely deplore and disagree with, but none the less dogs have proven to be an indespensible part of human life. From search and rescue, dog guiding for the blind, policing/protection, detecting seizures in humans, etc. The list goes on. There is obvious mutually beneficial symbiosis between dog and humans and I do think that is successfull model.

Now since we have developed this man - there is also a problem of over population of strays in the US and the world for that matter. This overpopulation results in the mass euthanized of dogs or dogs slowly dying on the street or being explotied for profit. The only thing which can prevent this is a movement of mass castration. Which in the end, will result in less dogs living as strays needing to be rescued or euthanized. As you will see with the Olympic games in Sochi, there are strays living everywhere in Sochi, which the Russian government is now euthanizing dogs in mass quantity as they do not have any type of spay/neutering program. As to my point, though castration may be agains Jewish law, it is the solution to the problem which humans have created. Btw, neutering has proven to reduce both testicular and prostate cancer in male dogs.

BTW, I think your idea of a Jewish Animal Welfare Institute is one of the best ideas I've heard in a while.

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Yadidya Greenberg
2/10/2014 02:57:32 pm

Jordan,
Dogs are called man's best friend for good reason, they were the first animal to be domesticated by man and seemingly domesticated themselves as much as we domesticated them. From Chihuahuas to Huskies all modern breeds originate from grey wolves which were fed by our ancestors and slowly neotenized over thousands of years. I love dogs more than any other animal and believe that our ability to bond with them is unparalleled in any other animal. They also serve many highly important functions as working animals throughout society. I believe that our relationship with dogs is our closest and most intimate and has its roots in symbiosis. But I believe that those roots have given sprout to a highly un-symbiotic reality and that our modern day relationship with these animals is highly troubled. These matters are highly complex and I am hesitant to delve deeper than I already have here but I'd be happy to speak with you about this and elaborate the details of my feelings on the matter in person.

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    About the blog:

    ​Welcome to The Kosher Omnivore's Quest! My old blog on kosher slaughter, kosher meat, and animal welfare. For new content check out my new website, The Kosher Cut™.  There you'll find: blog posts about shechita and related topics, educational slaughter presentations, kosher slaughter training, and a selection of high quality professional kosher slaughter equipment.

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