Fur sheep?

[Ridgetop]

In the immortal words of Baymule: "You can't cure stupid!"

 

[farmerjan]

I basically agree with all the comments on fur and wearing skins/pelts/fur from farm raised animals. I do have to disagree somewhat with some of the comments on trappers and their lack of frequent checking of their traps. I agree that some probably don't. Yes the animal is hurt, afraid, and it is not the most humane in some cases. BUT, my brother ran a trap line and he checked it daily. I did all his skinning when he dislocated and further injured his shoulder. We were over run with muskrats. There were 5 ponds that were within walking distance from our house. The muskrats were destroying the banks of the ponds, undermining the dam, doing major damage to walkways and roadways around the ponds. He trapped them and cleaned out the huge numbers to where it was more manageable. I know of several guys in Texas that simply shoot beavers that continue to destroy their fields, roads, and such by building dams on every cotton picking stream there is. They said the numbers have exploded in the past few years. No, or few, natural predators.
So it is a 2 edged sword. I prefer the traps that drown the animals rather than the ones that leg catch and the animal suffers longer. But, in the same thought, I have watched coons go through a house of half grown chicks and tear off wings and legs and I had to go through and kill them off in the name of mercy. Yes, the coons were doing what coons do, but they are very destructive. Beavers do what they do, but they are very destructive if they are building dams where they will create havoc. Because we have "intruded" on nature, we are the ones that are causing the disturbance.
Mink are VERY DESTRUCTIVE and will kill for the sake of killing. In the wild, they are one of the best killing machines.

When do you think that they are going to come after people that use their rabbit skins? I mean, you kill the rabbit for food, why not use the skin.
And I sure like my leather.... and it is utilizing a by product of the animal that we are killing for meat. Whether it is a farm raised cow, or a wild deer for venison.
Granted, most do not eat the muskrats, or the beavers, but they are often trapped because they have become a nuisance where they are. Partly because we have caused the lost of many of the predators that would keep those populations in check. It is not like we have the wholesale trapping like years ago for the pelts. If you want to get up in arms, look at what was done to the buffalo herds for the skins and the tongues.... wasting the rest of the animal.
I do agree with not killing endangered species, and such, for just their skin, or like the elephants, for their ivory without using the rest of the animal. Funny thing is, the US is not the biggest culprit.... many of the animals are killed for Chinese medicines and potions and cures..... not for use here. Yes, we do use and import some, but much is for far eastern cultures.
Funny how many of the ones that get into the illicit fur and by product trades, are those that have all the money and they are the ones telling us we are not allowed to have it... how unacceptable it is to have fur coats or anything.
I am with you on not having all this stuff made out of plastics..... at least the furs/pelts and all that will TOTALLY bio-degrade.....

 

[Kusanar]

I do have to disagree somewhat with some of the comments on trappers and their lack of frequent checking of their traps.

I know that some do check traps daily, and that is actually required by law in some parts, but bad trappers do exist and a bad trapper can cause a lot of suffering. Traps are also somewhat indiscriminate in what they catch. You can set a certain type of trap for a certain type of animal and most of the time it will work, but when something big gets a leg caught in a full body trap meant for a smaller animal it's not pretty. I also agree that traps like beaver traps that are underwater and drown the animal are probably the best, then the animal is only in pain for as long as it can hold it's breath.

 

[Ridgetop]

Live traps were used here for trapping coyotes 30 years ago. Then the animal control officer would shoot the coyote in the trap, haul out the carcass and reset the trap. Next thing you know, that is "animal cruelty" and the coyotes were removed and set free to cause destruction elsewhere.

One of the most ridiculous things ever occurred with our Los Angeles City Council members - Raccoons and possums were becoming a problem in neighborhoods. They were being trapped in live traps and euthanized. They also carried rabies and a few cases of the disease were found among the trapped animals. However one council member belonged to PETA. She brought up the "inhumane killing of these poor defenseless animals" at a meeting and the City Council devised a more humane approach. As soon as a certain number of possums and raccoons were caught (and kept alive at the shelters) the City Council chartered a large helicopter, flew the animals into the national forest, and released them in an area closed to the public. Several members and a PETA guest rode along to watch and took photos of their "rescue" efforts. They also bragged in speeches about their "good deeds". Needless to say no permits were obtained from the forest service. Complaints were made by the US Forest Service to the City Council with demands to desist. The City Council (being good Angelenos in public service who thought themselves above any laws) disregarded the Forest Service and its court orders.

It turned out that the Council members had elected to illegally release its "rescue" possums and raccoons in the one remaining area of habitat where an endangered frog or toad still lived. Since they ignored the Forest Service's injunctions, the endangered frog or toad has dwindled to extinction. Los Angeles City was slapped with a large government fine which we as citizens of Los Angeles had to pay from our taxes. The politicians continued to serve on the council and Peta awarded its member a citation for saving the lives of numerus innocent furry predators.

Politicians! They always know best for the rest of the world.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

Ya can't fix stupid... ughhhh....politicians

 

[thistlebloom]

If we are talking about inflicting suffering, I'm sure we've all seen wildlife shows where the predator captures it's prey and eats it alive, tearing it's abdomen open. There is no humane instant death going on there.

It's incorrect to paint all trappers and hunters with such broad strokes. How can anyone know how each trapper operates? It can only be generalized by assumption and colored in by existing biases.
I tend to think that if it's your livelihood you will err on the side of doing things correctly. Yes, when humanity is involved you'll get a spectrum of behaviors, but I for one am weary of focusing on a few negatives and throwing out the good with the bad.

 

[Kusanar]

If we are talking about inflicting suffering, I'm sure we've all seen wildlife shows where the predator captures it's prey and eats it alive, tearing it's abdomen open. There is no humane instant death going on there.

It's incorrect to paint all trappers and hunters with such broad strokes. How can anyone know how each trapper operates? It can only be generalized by assumption and colored in by existing biases.
I tend to think that if it's your livelihood you will err on the side of doing things correctly. Yes, when humanity is involved you'll get a spectrum of behaviors, but I for one am weary of focusing on a few negatives and throwing out the good with the bad.

Understand and agree to a point. I was raised in a family of hunters where you are taught to always be sure of what you are shooting at and what is behind it, don't pull the trigger if you are not 100% sure. You can never be anywhere close to that sure with a trap, it just weirds me out to set a trap and walk away without knowing if something is in the trap and hurting or not.

I understand that animals in the wild are often not the most effective killers and will cause great suffering when they hunt, but humans can and should do better than that. I mean, this is why I feed my cats cat food and don't just turn a chicken loose for them, yes, they would kill it, but not cleanly, I don't know for sure that the meat in their food is killed humanely, but it probably gets a better death than being ripped apart while alive.

 

[thistlebloom]

To be more clear I know there are idiots out there. They seem to get the headlines. But for every idiot there are probably 10 conscientious people who never get mentioned.

 

[Baymule]

Has the OP even come back? HEY! We got far away from fur sheep! I think I’ll put on my mink coat and go check on my sheep. LOL

 

[farmerjan]

Nope, OP has not come back and was last seen making that post. It did get us on a roll though on the subject....