Giant Stupidity
Posted by OperaChic on Feb 12, 2007 · Member since Jan 2007 · 661 posts
Check out this article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070212/sc_afp/germanynkoreaanimals;_ylt=Am0K2Yo5WVf4h28XHfMfWYUPLBIF
This guy is starting a giant rabbit breeding program in North Korea to help "the children and the people who are hungry". However, they have to feed the rabbits tons of veggies everyday... Does this strike anyone else as counter-productive?
Quote:
Giant rabbits have giant appetites -- the fully-grown adults consume up to a kilogramme of food a day -- but what they eat is available in North Korea.
"They told me they have enough rice, potatoes and grass. That should do," Szmolinsky said.
Poor enormous bunnies...
:P
Sounds like they've bred the turkey of the rabbit world...take that how you like...what kind of health problems is this poor giant going to have I wonder. Sigh.
I started a thread the other day called "the world is retarded"
That's pretty much how I feel about this article!
Wow. I've never seen a "German grey giant rabbit" before. They're beautiful.
And I agree, not only is this stupid, it's disgusting. I can't imagine we need to grossly exploit another animal species... haven't we already done that a million times over?
I like how the article mentions that one full-grown adult rabbit can feed a family of 6, yet it eats 1 kilogram of food everyday. If they've reached adulthood by 1 year, they'll have consumed upwards of 300 kilograms of potato, rice and grass. I have a feeling that could feed a lot more people than a family of six, or better yet, when sold, financially support a family of 6 for years.
That is just aggravating! How can people not see how inefficient this is (in addition to cruel)? That rabbit looks SO cuddly, too! :(
What a stupid idea. Eat those veggie instead, MORONS >:(
Will people ever learn???? :-\
I doubt it, at least not in my lifetime :'(
hey GUYS! you're being incredibly insensitive and not very practical. as we found out in Ireland... poatoes and grass don't feed a starving nation. we here are very lucky to live a free society were food is abundant and all that we need to lead healthy and fulfilling lives is readily available. veganism is the ideal, and something that we should strive for, but in a society that has existed in a state of turmoil and starvation for decades, meat is the fastest way to get needed nutrients. i totally agree that it will be a pity if all the country's vegetation went to rabbits instead of people (although much of the vegetation would be useless for human consumption anyway), but this rabbit breeder is actually doing something... until you can say you're shipping complete veg*n meals to these starving and helpless people, i'd suggest that you be a little less critical of one misguided man who thinks he is helping.
My god, this annoys me so much, I have steam coming out of my ears. What crass stupidity. Grrrr, I will never sleep tonight now, I am so cross.
Thank-you for your perspective, Rachandra. I'd like to peacefully disagree on some matters. I don't feel that we're being entirely insensitive. Perhaps if this were a non-vegan board where farmers lurked I would curb my disgust (although truthfully I wouldn't post against something like this on a non-vegan board). It's not only thousands of kilos of potential food, it's thousands of kilos of potential commodity. As well, rabbit is not in itself proper nutrition, like potato and rice (and the food crops one could grow in place of the fields of grass harvested for the bunnies), it too needs complementary foods to resemble something of a balanced diet (although I understand perfectly well that nutrition is secondary to starvation--when you're starving you think about filling yourself up, not about nutrients). I feel it's a little unfair to call us insensitive. I appreciate your opinion, but not the insults. If you truly think we're being insensitive, then please educate us with the opposite--sensitivity. I think you will find us to be much more receptive of your argument that way.
What a stupid idea. Eat those veggie instead, MORONS >:(
i didn't think that i was being insulting in any way. if you read my post i think you'll find i didn't use any words that were insensitive... in fact, i was trying to point out some past events that have proven that sometimes the moral highground is neither practical or even the best.you could argue about whether the life of a Korean child or a rabbit is more important, and I firmly belive that a world is possible where that won't even be an issue, but at this moment in hand, it very well might be. i don't want to be speciesist, but in a country were a madman rampages on, unnoticed by the rest of the world, complaining about one German rabbit breeder and a few Korean delegates isn't very mature. i didn't see one person spare any words for the opressed Korean people that would be grateful for any food, no matter where it came from.
i was merely responding to what i thought was a rather judgmental viewpoint expressed by some people on this board.
i've also been wanting to mention this for a little while now, that sometimes we have cut people off from expressing viewpoints because this is a "veg*n" board.
Perhaps if this were a non-vegan board where farmers lurked I would curb my disgust
I agree that staying within broad board topics is important, and trading hamburger recipes isn't appropriate, but we're discussing a very difficult and morally inconclusive topic here, and reacting to my argument because it doesn't immediately fit into your definition of a veg*n viewpoint is unfair too.
on a purely technical note: rice and potatoes may have been mentioned in the article, and picked up by readers, but as anyone who has owned rabbits would know, much of what rabbits eat is vegetation that humans are incapable of digesting. replacing "fields of grass" with fields of plant food for human consumption would take planning and co-operation that I fear is not likely to occur in North Korea anytime soon. gathering wild-growing grasses and plants for a rabbit to eat is something that the youngest child can manage.
i'm sorry about the length of the post and perhaps the off-topicness.
I didn't react to your argument "because it doesn't immediately fit into definition of a veg*n viewpoint." I was simply defending the disgust a few of us felt when reading that article--I never said anything about your argument being 'unvegan'. I would never say anything like that period.
Thank-you for replying. I am still learning.
I just hate to see gianormous bunnies become food in any country...
It would make me feel better to know that those animals would be fed vegetation which wouldn't otherwise be used as food... I know that DPRK's population has been supported for years by shipments of grain from other countries, so I hope they wouldn't use edible vegetation to feed their livestock.
Well, Rachandra, you are entitled to your opinion and I am to mine. I have read quite a bit about food "production" and the bottom line is that a vegetarian or vegan diet is much better for the environment and a much smarter use of resources. "MORON's is not directed at any one individual, but at US, as a RACE/SPECIES, the human race/species in gerneral. We are very slow learners, as our energy policies, foreign policies etc. show, same mistakes over and over and OVER.
This is just stupid. Rabbits eat a LOT relative to the weight they retain versus the amount of food they eat. In fact, almost anything is better. The flesh would not be good for feeding the hungry because it is low in fat and calories. They are better off looking into extra acres for soybeans.