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I should have been a clean-up bull
On one weekend in July, I had to choose between attending the 2004 Animal Rights Conference in Washington DC and my wife's high school class reunion. I chose the latter. I met many people and it was a wonderful weekend.
Upon entering a conversation with one of my new acquaintances, I asked him, "How long have you been married?" His comeback was, "Seven years of living hell." Interesting from a guy I barely knew but then he went on. "I don't think men and women were meant to live together. Life would have been easier if I had just been a clean-up bull." For those of you who may not understand the term, a clean-up bull is one that is turned out to breed the cows that didn't conceive through Artificial Insemination.
If we examine the life of a clean up bull, we recognize that he works about 45 to 60 days a year. He sires between 15 and 30 babies annually, for which he has no further responsibility. He has "relationships" with dozens of females every year but he doesn't have to "live" with any one of them. Being a clean-up bull has some serious advantages over being the high-dollar sire that only gets to transfer his genes via artificial means.
That's where the great irony comes in.
On the same day that I had this conversation, 800 animal rights (AR) enthusiasts from around the world gathered in DC to explore ways to give animals human like qualities. The official term is anthropomorphism.
This movement knows that if they continue to get our nation's kids to view the life of a food animal similar to their own life, they are one step closer to achieving complete animal liberation.
You may find some of the topics selected for the 2004 Animal Rights Convention to be interesting:
--The 3rd stage of modern enlightenment is reached with animal rights
--Tactics such as rape, ridicule, objectification, domestic violence, and control of reproduction have been and continue to be used to oppress and exploit both women and animals.
--Milk, eggs, and cockfighting are all gendered forms of oppression of animals.
As ridiculous as you think that sounds, I have witnessed people listening to these speakers describe in detail how they think this is happening. The presenters motivate the audience to go forward and eliminate the perceived oppression of farm animals at any price. This is where the dissention has started within the AR movement.
Seven major AR organizations dropped out of this year's conference. These groups felt there was too much emphasis on "direct action." Direct action is the term they use for the destruction of private property, threatening individuals or release of animals. I have seen young girls come out of these "pep rallies" ready to burn down any farm they think is contributing to animal oppression.
The Animal Rights movement, which takes great pride in anthropomorphism at every level, showed just how hypocritical they can be in response to a recent broadcast by Peter Jennings. On July 7, 2004 Jennings aired a positive rodeo bull-riding story on the national news. Here is a quote from the show and reporter Erin Hayes:
"Little Yellow Jacket is a national champion worth over $100,000, known to stop in the arena to listen to the applause."
A featured speaker at the AR conference responded by saying, "How sad to see a major news show indulge in ridiculous anthropomorphism, in a way that is so harmful to the animals."
That cracks me up. Given an opportunity, the AR movement always attempts to give human emotions to animals. But if the situation doesn't fit their agenda, they can't handle it. The simple fact is that humans were given the intelligence to provide for the food animal so the food animals can, in turn, provide the essentials of life for us.
God designed the world to be a wonderful kingdom. Everything has a place and a purpose. If he had wanted me to be a clean-up bull, I would have been born to four-legged parents. Instead, he gave humans the cranial power to utilize the bounties of this earth in a resourceful manner.
Editor's note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.FacesOfAg.com, or e-mail Trent at trent@loostales.com.
Date: 7/22/04
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