I was talking on the phone to a woman I know when it became obvious that what I had to offer by way of conversation was becoming just so much background noise to some horror visible to her but not immediately obvious to me.
Woman I Know: “Oh no! Oh this is awful! Oh this is horrible!”
Me: “What is it?”
Woman I Know: “A Currawong is eating baby mynah birds right out of the nest!”
Me: “Currawongs have to eat too.”
Woman I know: “I’ll call you back.”
Later that same day, a cat I know was complaining bitterly that it hadn’t been fed.
There was nothing for it in the house so a quick dash to the nearest supermarket became an urgent necessity.
I raced to the chilled pet meat section but – shock horror – there was nothing on the designated shelves so approached a store employee and asked what the story was.
Employee: “I think the fridge is broken.”
Me: “This is a disaster – the cat is beside it itself.”
Employee: “What meat is it?”
Me: “Chopped Kangaroo.”
Employee: “No I mean how does it come?”
Me: “Packaged in little plastic sachets.”
Employee: “I don’t have anything to do with meat but I’ll ask for you.”
At this point, if you’d have asked me, I was assuming “I don’t have anything to do with meat” meant “I don’t work in the meat department”.
I wait, employee eventually returns holding a cardboard box containing a selection of meaty cat food sachets.
I thank her, select the cat’s favourite and start to head for the checkout when she says “You’re lucky to get that you know – I won’t touch meat”.
Well excuuuuuse me for patronising your store and spending good money to buy food for a hungry cat.
For the record, cats are classified as obligate carnivores – if they don’t eat meat in some form they die.
So activist vegan has a conflict right there – apparently doesn’t approve of animals being eaten for food but depending on the circumstances would let a cat die for lack of appropriate nourishment .
I’d like it noted at this point that at least we humans kill the beast before consumption unlike animals who just eat each other as is, dead or alive (see Currawong reference).
MIKE JEFFREYS 