Dog-ma came home in a wee tizzy from last night's Great Egg debate about California Proposition 2, which was held on the campus of Santa Rosa Junior College. She said that the wonderful Paul Shapiro of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) debated the wonderful cage-free egg farmer, Steve Mahrt, of Petaluma.
Dog-ma sez it just isn't fair to have to argue about egg price over egg quality and nutrition. Besides, we wouldn't eat the eggs of cruelly-caged chickens even if they were givin' 'em away!
Our concern that laying hens be treated compassionately isn't compromised by caring about egg farmers like Steve Mahrt. After all, he and his family have been in the cage-free egg biz fur years, and he's now afraid that changes in regulations are gonna put him out of business.
Okay, so, what are we gonna do in order to see to it that laying hens are treated well and that the 'Steve Mahrts' of the Pacific region stay strong? . . . How are we dogs, who need animal protein in our diets, gonna help get rid of all inhumane farming of eggs, poultry, meat, and dairy!?
The answer from us Humane California Dogs: We're followin' the rule of fair prey! We companion animals have got to be humane consumers!
Look, my dog-ma had previously sat down and bellyached to me and Tilin Corgi and our Ani Siamese about declining terms of trade and other political-economic realities. Then she got into that thing about how either you're a leader, a change agent, or you're not.
So, all you doggehs, kittehs, and animal lovers: Is you is on the lead team or is you ain't? Either you're gonna lead the way in this period of economic change toward humane food production, or else you ain't! In other words, either you're gonna study up fast on the benefits of eatin' humanely-farmed animal protein, and then take that studyin' to the streets, or you're just not in the game.
And, in a sense, it is a game. It's the game of how humans whine about food prices while blowin' dollars on lotsa other stuff. C'mon, folks! You can't have your eggs cheap and have 'em tasty and cage-free, too.
But this is of course not a game to the "food animals" whose lives end when they become someone's prey.
Paw-leeze, humans everywhere, join us in investing in the humane food ethic and in a humane farming future. Be a humane food consumer!
And Californians, we'd better put paws up in favor of YES! on Prop 2. Otherwise the California farm economy and the regional farm economy ain't gonna stay ahead and be strong in the future.
We support a YES! on Prop 2 vote for ethical and economic reasons. The economic reason is to promote California's humane farmers as leaders in the New Egg economy. The ethical reason is self-explanatory. . . . Oh howl, I don't have to explain compassion, do I?
