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Post by micki on Feb 15, 2013 15:45:41 GMT
Due to recent revelations of horse meat and horse DNA being found in other meat products many meat eaters are up in arms.
Is it right for them to feel the way they do? Ok i get that they should know what they are eating when munching into a sausage or burger but do they really know anyway? Do these products list what goes into them, including all the offal.
Now my next point is this.....
As a meat eater why do people feel alright eating cows, pigs, sheep and other mammals (quite closely related to us) and yet get upset at eating horse... or dog or cat or rat for that matter?
This is all separate from the cruelty, distress, fear and terror that animals go through in slaughter houses.
So have meat eaters a valid point or is it a case of "what goes around, comes around"
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Post by brandykins on Feb 15, 2013 18:10:36 GMT
I think it is because most of us were brought up thinking that pigs, cows, fowl, and fish, were what we eat but horses were not bred for human consumption.
When my late brother and I went to Paris - me for the first time, in my early teens, we went into a restaurant just oppost the Gard de Norde railway station and I would order steak and chips, so did my brother and his pals, who were also there. It was at the end of the week, we discovered it was horse meat! I felt ill!
Horses are too lovely an animal to eat and not bred for it.
I will now never buy burgers, lasagne and will be looking carefully at the contents in future!
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roxy
ROOKIE
Posts: 68
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Post by roxy on Feb 15, 2013 19:04:27 GMT
The Human Race has always been Meat Eating, and had to hunt to survive in the early days, so anything that moved was eaten, but times are different and Living with a Farmer I now see animals in a different way. some animals ie...cows, pigs, sheep ect are bred for food, and we know that but horses, dogs ect are the ones we keep as Pets and come to love. Eating them just seems wrong to us. We can now also afford to make the choice of eating meat or not....it's all down to your personal choice.
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Post by ilovecornsnakes on Feb 15, 2013 19:27:21 GMT
i was talking to one of the leaders at guides and they think that as some people eat horse any way it isn't that. some of it is that people should know what they're eating but that it's also because these horses aren't bred for food as those that other countries eat are and might have medicines and chemicals in them that are dangerous to humans. personally i tend to avoid red meat and the products just cos i don't like it, i only really eat chicken.
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Post by micki on Feb 15, 2013 21:55:38 GMT
Any mammal is fair game to eat depending on your culture. I for one admit to finding it all amusing. As a non-mammal eater I can't help feeling a sense of "it serves you right"... Don't get me wrong, I've eaten horse and quite liked it and one of my all time favorite foods was a good old bacon butty, but I just can't justify eating a fellow mammal just because we breed them for food. For me its an ethical issue. I couldn't say its ok to eat a cow but not a horse, dog or cat... Or monkey for that matter. To closely related to us for me.. The terror animals face in slaughter houses just because I want a steak is something I can't justify. So although I love the stuff I can never eat it again when I know I can survive without it.. Personal choice of course and I don't judge others for eating mammals. There but for the grace of God go I.. We couldve been born a different species and ended up on a plate.
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Post by parsonsmum on Feb 16, 2013 1:13:30 GMT
It's totally wrong and the public have been duped. It's not in our culture to eat horse or dogs for that matter. I am not vegetarian but would never choose to eat horsemeat. There are so many factors in this story.........where has the horsemeat come from? Wild horses in Romania that are cruelly clubbed to death with crowbars? Then there's the health aspect of these horses and any drugs they may carry in their systems?
There's been pig DNA found in some ready meals labelled as beef.........what about religious connotations where some are forbidden to eat pork? This "meat" has been supplied to schools, hospitals, care homes etc. How about that chicken pie on the supermarket shelves? Chicken? or maybe cat? So how can we believe any of the ingredients listed on food labels?
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Post by micki on Feb 16, 2013 1:43:09 GMT
Exactly Sharon. Glad i know what a chicken and a fish looks like, so im ok.
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Post by lynx on Feb 16, 2013 7:10:36 GMT
My take on this is very similar to yours Micki. I am very much a hose lover so to think of it being eaten is abhorrent. But then I absolutely adore pigs, they are so intelligent and can be quite dog like in their bond with people if allowed. Every animal has it's own unique quality and personality and should be respected.
On the other hand people do eat meat and seem able to detach themselves from woolly and furry creatures they see happy in the fields so I can't see what difference it makes ethically what is on the plate so long as it is safe and hopefully slaughtered properly. (How do you kill something properly - the word 'humane' is used, that's a joke in itself)
I'm thinking it's not so much an ethical issue, more one of knowing the supermarkets and caterers have lied to their customers. People naturally feel insulted when they have been lied to and trust is lost. I think there will be a lot of repair work to be done.
Like you Micki I am very glad indeed to be a 100% vegetarian of over forty years.
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Post by oldhusky on Feb 16, 2013 16:42:57 GMT
Exactly Sharon. Glad i know what a chicken and a fish looks like, so im ok. I was just watching a news segment where they said that a huge percentage of the fish fillets bought here are not the fish you think they are - because fillets look so much alike, they substitute cheaper fish. They specifically said it's different in other parts of the world, where fish are sold whole.
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Post by micki on Feb 16, 2013 17:00:15 GMT
Exactly Sharon. Glad i know what a chicken and a fish looks like, so im ok. I was just watching a news segment where they said that a huge percentage of the fish fillets bought here are not the fish you think they are - because fillets look so much alike, they substitute cheaper fish. They specifically said it's different in other parts of the world, where fish are sold whole. That all sounds a bit fishy to me Brenda. ;D
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Post by alex on Feb 17, 2013 15:41:35 GMT
I used to work as a fishmonger. It was hectic work...turbot-charged. ;D
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Post by oldhusky on Feb 17, 2013 16:14:45 GMT
OMG! ;D
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Post by alex on Feb 18, 2013 16:45:36 GMT
I mustn't moan though...the work was brill ;D
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Post by lynx on Feb 18, 2013 21:00:39 GMT
Alex!!! ;D ;D
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Post by alex on Feb 19, 2013 9:00:24 GMT
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