The Bambi Factor - Part 2

A few years ago I wrote an entry called The Bambi Factor, and for some unknown reason it pops up frequently as a favorite.  The gist of the message was that some people have spent so much time isolated from nature in cities and have been exposed to so many Disney movies that they have lost perspective.  It matters not if animals are pests; their cute and cuddly appearance gives them a free pass.  When someone, who is automatically labeled as cruel and heartless, suggests they be controlled, protests erupt.

When a case goes to court or through some other review process, the smart money is always on the sea otters, the deer, the Canada geese and the cute little bunnies.  Advocates tell us we must love nature and live in harmony with its creatures whose big brown eyes melt our hearts.  The government puts some wild animals on the endangered species list, and protests also erupt when they attempt to take them off or restrict protection only to those areas where they still need it.  Getting onto the list is most often a one-way street.

In all these cases, no matter how reasonable the argument might be it’s a losing battle.  Emotion wins out over logic.  Critical thinking is sidelined.  It’s like dealing with five-year-olds.  Reason takes a back seat to the impulse to protect these poor creatures from harm or distress.

Well here we are about five years after that first post, and we encounter a PETA-sponsored ad during the Super Bowl, an almost laughable display of naiveté.  There is no such thing, they claim, as humane meat production, and current industry practices are unforgivable.

They represent people that apparently think that, except for the interference of humans, bunnies and other animals would spend their lives frolicking merrily in the fields and forest with minimal concern for eating or avoiding predators.  When they reached the end of life, they would peacefully lie down and die – surrounded by tearful friends and family.

They also seem to believe that farmers intentionally mistreat their livestock.  That makes less business sense than manufacturers not maintaining their machines.  Farmers’ livelihood depends on the health of their animals.  This wouldn’t have flown 100 years ago when the majority of the population lived in rural areas and were familiar with farm operations; but today farmers make up less than 2% of the population, and many farms are run by big business, so they are fair game – please forgive the hunting metaphor.

The biggest insult is that they try to use this cartoon-like concept of the world to guilt us into joining the campaign to give up eating meat – happy people, happy pigs and cows.  But take chickens as an example.  Given the choice, they would rather be inside in the cold winter months.  And according to a study a few years ago by The Coalition for a Sustainable Egg Supply, hen mortality in cage-free systems is higher because of the “pecking order” in flocks where the larger hens often peck to death smaller ones.  Actually, humans are more conscious of suffering and cause far less intentional and incidental suffering than the rest of nature.

Now I must apologize to the five-year-olds.  While watching an episode of the Nature series on PBS with my five-year-old granddaughter, she observed, “Nature is about survival.”  That’s a far healthier understanding than some fairytale version of how all God’s creatures live together in harmony, often heard from “mature” adults.