Fact of the matter is: I like having them around when I am alone. They lay next to me when I sleep, and they are very happy to see me when I get home. Next to my wife and my kids, they are the beings I love most in the world.
I know what you are thinking. How do pets have a place in a health and wellness blog. We'll get there, and you'll likely be horrified, as I was. My job is not to keep you happy, but to expose you to issues that you might not experience in the mainstream media, when it is pertinent to your health and well being. Since I have been a vegan for 4 years, with a year hiatus, and have extensively studied animal execution, factory farming, and animal welfare, I was surprised I had never learned about this. I'm glad I have now. Big Meat might be mad at me for sharing this, but I wouldn't feel right unless I talked about this with you, my followers who have chosen the path of health and wellness.
First, we have to start with the food chains of Asia. In many cultures in Asia, the dog is considered a valid part of the food chain. They kill, butcher, and eat dogs, as we do to cows, pigs, and chicken. Most Americans consider dog eating to be abhorrent, mainly because we choose to keep those animals as pets, name them, and care for them, rather than choosing them as food.
I have two points here. First, why are dogs not considered food in the west? They are just as nutritious as pigs, cows, and chicken. They are no smarter than pigs, in fact, they may be much less intelligent. They are no better as guard animals. A pig will give its life to defend its master against a physical threat, even to the point of death. I love dogs, but how can we justify the way we treat pigs, when they are more intelligent and just as loyal as dogs? If you are unfamiliar with how we currently treat pigs in America, they are contained in crates barely bigger than their bodies. They have their tails cut off without pain control because they go insane under such conditions. After about 6 weeks of force feeding, they are brought to the processing plant, where nearly 1/3 of them are still awake while they are skinned, put through a boiling water bath, and dissected alive, before being bled out and finally dying. I don't know about you, but that isn't how I'd like my dog to be treated. BTW, that is how almost all animals destined for your dinner plate are treated. If you don't believe me, google "slaughterhouse practices." You will see more than you ever want to.
Point two has to do with dogs and cats that are unwanted. Many sources estimate that 6-8 million dogs and cats are euthanized every year. Most of these animals are born because of irresponsible spaying and neutering practices. I feel sad about the number of unwanted pets, but even worse about what I found out considering what happens to them. Let's say a clinic euthanizes a large number of dogs and cats. What do they do with the bodies? They cremate some that their owners want. The rest are sold to rendering plants. The bodies are ground into meat, brain tissue, and bone meal. This meal makes very cheap feed, which is given to chicken, cows, and pigs. Those of you who were happy that you didn't live in Asia because you didn't eat dog or cat, surprise! You eat the flesh of virtually every dog and cat who is killed in this country, only second hand through what you call chicken, pork, and beef.
Why do the meat farmers feed the ground up bodies of cats and dogs to the animals we eat? Simple answer: Money. Rendered dog and cat corpses are rather cheap. That lowers their cost of operation, which lowers the cost of the meat. If they then sell at the same price, they get to pocket the difference as profit. They also grind up the bodies of lame cows, cattle, and chicken, and feed them to the live animals for the same reason. Although the practice has been banned in Europe for decades, it is considered "standard industry practice" and is exempted by federal law. These laws are largely written by Congressmen and Senators who are given scads of money by lobbyists for factory farmers.
There are a couple of reasons I give you this information: first, I want you to know what exactly goes into the food that you eat. The big meat companies could come down on me hard for what I am telling you, but I think you deserve to know the truth. Second, I want you to be healthy. Do you think that chickens, pigs, and cows, whose normal diet is based on grazing should be fed the ground up tissue of their own species (also known as cannibalism) and those of other animals? Is eating the byproducts of those sick animals good for your health? As a doctor, I can tell you the answer is no. Salmonella, E Coli: 0157:H7, Shigella, and prion diseases, such as Mad Cow Disease (known in humans as Crutchfeld-Jacob Disease) are the result of feeding animals to animals.
Fortunately, if you want to avoid adding to this system and contributing to both disease and the cruelty that these animals suffer, all you have to do is adopt a plant based diet. Plants harbor no such diseases, and do not suffer merely because we like to eat a steak now and again. Eating plants, fruits, legumes, and nuts is not only nutritionally sound, and conducive to weight loss, but is also free of killing poor cats and dogs, and eating animals which likely contain deadly disease.
If you want to opt out of factory farming, and the lies told by the meat industry, feel free to comment, email me at drott@devolvehealth.com, or visit my website at www.devolvehealth.com
M Jacob Ott, MD
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