4 ms·

The Charmed Life of Esther the Wonder Pig

46 points by axiomdata316 8y ago

JamesLefrere 8y ago
> A question still nags at me, and I pose it to the couple: “You have about fifty-eight residents now, but there are billions of animals that you can never save. Does this ever discourage you? Does it ever feel futile?” > Jenkins looks instantly pained. His eyes well up. “Yeah, it’s tough,” he says. “That’s the hardest part. I try not to go there, because it’s overwhelming.” Huge respect for these guys. From my perspective, nothing can be done about the animals already in the system, but the sooner we wind down the demand keeping them there, the more we'll save. Their efforts definitely help with that.
- cgopalan 8y ago
  This is the quandary facing all animal activists. We have to be positive since there's proof that things are improving, but at the same time when you start thinking about the billions that are as intelligent (or some more so) than our pets and are being slaughtered, its hard not to be overcome by pessimism. But as Jenkins says, we should not dwell on that. Because besides making you pessimistic, it also hampers whatever little ability you have to contribute.
  - ToddBurgess 8y ago
    When I got started in animal rescue I was given this advise: "You can't save them all and you should not save them all. If you are going to do well in animal rescue you need to come to terms with this." Formally in rescue it is abbreviated to C4C or Capacity for Care. In a nutshell it means you don't take in more animals then you can care for.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
uxcolumbo 8y ago
I have huge respect for people who do this kind of work. I don't think I'd be able to do it - go to these factory farms and see all the suffering and only be able to rescue a few animals. I can't even watch Earthlings[0] - just one clip is enough and it paralyses me for days. I just can't understand why we continue to support the large scale meat industry (not talking about hunting or raising and killing your own animals). Not only are factory farmed products not healthy for us, but it's destroying the environment, creates unncessary suffering and even if you don't care about animals, it's also harmful to people working in that industry. Would you want to work in a slaughterhouse 8 hours a day - killing, gutting and hearing the screams of other sentient beings? What does that do to one's psyche? We (engineers, designers, etc) are problem solvers - so our community should better understand that supporting the large scale meat industry just doesn't make sense anymore and instead we'd look to support alternative food sources[1] that are less desstructive on so many levels. Ethan Brown's approach is great - he's right, we won't be able to change culture where meat consumption is totally ingrained - it's better to offer an alternative that is as good or better as meat, but that doesn't require us to continue these destructive ways. I think people in the future[2] will look back at this time and just shake their head at how we could continue supporting an industry that kills 80Billion animals / year just so we can have some short lived pleasure in our mouth (only real reason I can think of why we continue to eat meat - please correct me if I'm wrong) - the same way we shake our head at slavery, which was accepted by society in the past. Holocaust survivor and founder of Farm - Dr Alex Hershaft[3] - compares how Nazis treated other ethnic groups to how we treat other species. To animals we are the Nazis. Ultimately the question is, when it's not necessary for survival - how do you humanely kill a sentient being that doesn't want to be killed? Just hope how we currently value other sentient beings won't be an example for our future AI overlords of how to behave towards us. [0] Earthlings https://vimeo.com/209647801 https://vimeo.com/209647801 [1]Beyond Meat http://www.ideacity.ca/video/ethan-brown-beyond-meat/ http://www.ideacity.ca/video/ethan-brown-beyond-meat/ [2] Star Trek - 'We no longer enslave animals for food purposes' https://youtu.be/sS7NRtEJBcA?t=31s https://youtu.be/sS7NRtEJBcA?t=31s [3] https://nonprofitchronicles.com/2017/12/05/alex-hershaft-holocast-survivor-animal-advocate/ https://nonprofitchronicles.com/2017/12/05/alex-hershaft-hol... Edit: typos
- uxcolumbo 8y ago
woodandsteel 8y ago
If it doesn't wear a cape and it can't sing, it doesn't deserve to be called a wonder pig https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw5SQXBIcjc&index=45&list=PLgyahHEFAo5NXWHopzDqIsMVwKULnIo4k&t=0s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw5SQXBIcjc&index=45&list=PL...

46 points by axiomdata316 8y ago

> A question still nags at me, and I pose it to the couple: “You have about fifty-eight residents now, but there are billions of animals that you can never save. Does this ever discourage you? Does it ever feel futile?” > Jenkins looks instantly pained. His eyes well up. “Yeah, it’s tough,” he says. “That’s the hardest part. I try not to go there, because it’s overwhelming.” Huge respect for these guys. From my perspective, nothing can be done about the animals already in the system, but the sooner we wind down the demand keeping them there, the more we'll save. Their efforts definitely help with that.

cgopalan 8y ago
This is the quandary facing all animal activists. We have to be positive since there's proof that things are improving, but at the same time when you start thinking about the billions that are as intelligent (or some more so) than our pets and are being slaughtered, its hard not to be overcome by pessimism. But as Jenkins says, we should not dwell on that. Because besides making you pessimistic, it also hampers whatever little ability you have to contribute.
- ToddBurgess 8y ago
  When I got started in animal rescue I was given this advise: "You can't save them all and you should not save them all. If you are going to do well in animal rescue you need to come to terms with this." Formally in rescue it is abbreviated to C4C or Capacity for Care. In a nutshell it means you don't take in more animals then you can care for.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

uxcolumbo 8y ago

I have huge respect for people who do this kind of work. I don't think I'd be able to do it - go to these factory farms and see all the suffering and only be able to rescue a few animals. I can't even watch Earthlings[0] - just one clip is enough and it paralyses me for days. I just can't understand why we continue to support the large scale meat industry (not talking about hunting or raising and killing your own animals). Not only are factory farmed products not healthy for us, but it's destroying the environment, creates unncessary suffering and even if you don't care about animals, it's also harmful to people working in that industry. Would you want to work in a slaughterhouse 8 hours a day - killing, gutting and hearing the screams of other sentient beings? What does that do to one's psyche? We (engineers, designers, etc) are problem solvers - so our community should better understand that supporting the large scale meat industry just doesn't make sense anymore and instead we'd look to support alternative food sources[1] that are less desstructive on so many levels. Ethan Brown's approach is great - he's right, we won't be able to change culture where meat consumption is totally ingrained - it's better to offer an alternative that is as good or better as meat, but that doesn't require us to continue these destructive ways. I think people in the future[2] will look back at this time and just shake their head at how we could continue supporting an industry that kills 80Billion animals / year just so we can have some short lived pleasure in our mouth (only real reason I can think of why we continue to eat meat - please correct me if I'm wrong) - the same way we shake our head at slavery, which was accepted by society in the past. Holocaust survivor and founder of Farm - Dr Alex Hershaft[3] - compares how Nazis treated other ethnic groups to how we treat other species. To animals we are the Nazis. Ultimately the question is, when it's not necessary for survival - how do you humanely kill a sentient being that doesn't want to be killed? Just hope how we currently value other sentient beings won't be an example for our future AI overlords of how to behave towards us. [0] Earthlings https://vimeo.com/209647801 https://vimeo.com/209647801 [1]Beyond Meat http://www.ideacity.ca/video/ethan-brown-beyond-meat/ http://www.ideacity.ca/video/ethan-brown-beyond-meat/ [2] Star Trek - 'We no longer enslave animals for food purposes' https://youtu.be/sS7NRtEJBcA?t=31s https://youtu.be/sS7NRtEJBcA?t=31s [3] https://nonprofitchronicles.com/2017/12/05/alex-hershaft-holocast-survivor-animal-advocate/ https://nonprofitchronicles.com/2017/12/05/alex-hershaft-hol... Edit: typos

uxcolumbo 8y ago

woodandsteel 8y ago

If it doesn't wear a cape and it can't sing, it doesn't deserve to be called a wonder pig https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw5SQXBIcjc&index=45&list=PLgyahHEFAo5NXWHopzDqIsMVwKULnIo4k&t=0s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw5SQXBIcjc&index=45&list=PL...