Hunting and conservation

There seems to fair amount of propoganda coming from the hunting community claiming that they need to have yearly “culls” to ‘protect the species’ and assorted BS.

Now I know it is going to be hard for some readers to fathom this, and if you are shocked easily, please sit down before you read any further.

I am going to tell you now, and will stand by the following statement, hunting has about as much to do with conservation as McDonalds has to do with educating people on vegansim. Hunters hunt for their own selfish reasons and it has nothing to do with conservation whatsoever.

Now, if there are any hunters or those sympathetic to hunters reading this, before you get your flame thrower out and head straight to the comment section to tell me how ignorant and deluded I am, let’s have an objective look at the arguments/myths that the hunting fraternity use to justify the existence of this particular blood sport.

Jockeys protest over unchanged whip rule.

Well it appears that those precious things that wear all those pretty colours while sitting on a horses back whipping it to make it run faster are having a little cry that the Australian Racing Board (ARB) won’t reverse its ruling restricting the number of times that they able to use the whip “at their discretion” on a horse that they are riding in the last 100m of the race.

Ultimately the jockeys, who claim to have industry backing for their protest appear to have no other reason for their stance, apart from the lure of the almighty dollar. They believe that they should be able to use their own discretion as to the number of times that a horse may be whipped if it is in contention to win the race. Which would result in a whipping free for all. Yet, it was this same industry that backed the ARB to pass these rules in the first place.

The motivation of the jockey’s can only be that of a purely selfish financial reason.

There will be arguments coming from the jockeys corners claiming that by not being able to whip the horse at their discretion that they are not able to do their job to the best of their ability. Which will in turn will cost the gullible gambling public, the trainers and the owners money.

Not once has there been any mention of the safety of the horse or the impact that “open season” on whipping will have.

It is a sad indictment of our society that the brutal practice of horse racing is a multi-billion dollar industry, and as such is virtually untouchable in respects of any sort of reform that would restrict the abuse that horses have to endure in the name of this “sport”.

The difference of “positions”

Lately, I have noticed that there seems to be more discussions that turn into arguments all relating to the position of abolitionists compared to welfarists. Most of the discussions seem to be centered around the position that two prominent people within the “movement” take.

The welfarist camp views the abolitionist position as too extreme and unattainable, whilst the abolitionist camp views the welfarist position as not going far enough.

Which one is right?

I personally believe that the abolitionist position is the right one to take, and cannot fault their logic. How the welfarists can push for a certain position such as “cage free” eggs or “happy meat” when the animals are still transported and slaughtered is beyond me. Stopping their exploitation should be the first and only target that they aim for. It stands to reason then that following a vegan lifestyle is the moral baseline to take.

Lately things have changed…

I recently went to the US to attend an animal rights conference in LA.

To attend something like that and be in the same place with literally hundreds of other people that are on the same page as you are is something that really has to be experienced. It was also totally mind blowing to hear the word vegan used in everyday language, without the huge explanation of what a vegan is following it.

Then to come back home to Australia and Brisbane, the wind was well and truly sucked out of my sails.

From the weekend’s paper

There’s an interesting news report in Saturday’s paper and online.

A Gold Coast radio station appears to be in a little bit of hot water with the RSPCA over their stunt of tying 200 helium filled balloons to a piglet, in an attempt to get the poor animal to fly.  The RSPCA’s vet makes a comment that they wouldn’t do this to a puppy or a kitten, and the senior inspector from the RSCPA said the they would talk to radio station management and then decide if further action is necessary.

Is this how ineffective the RSCPA has become?

They are now guilty of their own hypocrisy. If the same stunt had have been done with a kitten or a puppy, I am sure that they would not hesitate in laying criminal charges against the people that planned it. Yet, here they are going to “talk” to the radio station about it. The senior inspector even goes as far to say that at the least they expect the station to make a full apology for the incident. What good is an apology going to do and what message does it send to others? You can do what ever you want, just say sorry and all will be ok…

This is what happens when you have a welfarist organisation put in the position of protecting the welfare of the states animals.  The laws are there, if the radio station broke the law, then they need to be prosecuted, just like anyone else would be. You don’t see the police investigating something, then telling the offender to say sorry and it will be ok, do you?

Now I understand that the RSPCA has limited funds for proescutions, and cannot take every matter to court, personally, I think this is where the government should step in. They created the animal care and protection act, they should be the ones that take them to court.

Interested in vegan tattoos

Oh boy… It has been ages since I last posted something here.

I am still in the process of putting the monthly newsletter together, and unfortunately it is taking a little longer than I had originally planned.

In the meantime, I thought I would share this with you.

If you live in Queensland and are thinking about getting a tattoo, I have recently found out that a very good friend of mines partner has opened up a tattoo parlour in Maleny.

It is called, Kazuro Tattoos. They are located at ‘The Church’ 2/76 Maple Street, Maleny QLD.

At the moment, they are open Thursday afternoon to Sunday.

For more information, email infoATkazurotattoos.com

And they do use vegan inks, and have had a pretty hard time trying to source them from overseas too.

I will be heading up there shortly myself, and will be sure to post more info once I have been.