To the editor:
Much of my social activism has been about dogs. Letter-writer D. Fisher’s excellent appeal for the love of horses was a necessary reminder that the horse is also much loved as a pet. Unfortunately, it is too often discarded to a meat auction when the owners can no longer keep if for whatever reason. The notion that when someone commits to “own” an animal, they also commit to ensure it receives a gentle demise, appears to be just that – a notion. How else can one explain an industry that thrives on the misery of former cherished pets?
Today, there is not yet a commercial meat market for former pet cats or dogs in North America. That does not mean such a market will not come to these shores. As of January 27, 2015, the world’s human population was 7,290,912,784 and populations are growing at an alarming pace, even after allowing for death by wars, famine and disease. The prospect for animals is bleak, with more and more of them raised in factory farm conditions – all to satisfy the voracious appetite for meat, eggs and milk at affordable prices. But there is hope as long as people like D. Fisher take the time to speak or write a letter to the editor.
Now I will do my small part for the sake of animals by enjoying a delicious glass of cool organic soy beverage, fortified with Vitamin B12.
Helen Schiele, Kelowna
