Paw Pals: Tiger Farms

This post will be an uncomfortable one. No, I didn't go out and get me a tiger puppy but i would if they didn't grow up to want to kill me. I was over at miss antsymama's house last week and as con k.so was flipping through the channels, he asked if i knew who the man version of lisa ling was. I didn't. Well, it's Adam Yamaguchi. The reasoning isn't as important as what i saw playing right in front of me. Yamaguchi has this documentary out on tiger farms. To watch the graphic trailer click here. Below is a descriptive excerpt of what you can expect to see:

The wild tiger is among the world’s most endangered species, pushed to the brink of extinction in large part by poachers who are killing the animals for profit. The illicit tiger parts trade is worth billions of dollars and nowhere is it more active than in China, the world’s leading consumer of illegal wildlife. Nearly two decades ago, the Chinese government instituted a series of conservation efforts ostensibly aimed at saving the tiger from what appeared to be its imminent demise, but correspondent Adam Yamaguchi goes undercover and exposes flagrant and widespread violation of China’s tiger trade laws. He investigates China’s lucrative black market for tigers and tiger parts, including the business of Asian zoos and breeding centers. In this dispatch from the field, he tapes his own raw reaction to seeing first-hand a massive tiger farm in China where over 1,500 animals are being held — likely until they die, when their parts are far more valuable.

The small part that i watched showed yamaguchi in a poor city of china where dogs are blatantly raised, butchered and sold for it's meat. It was the most heart wrenching thing i've ever seen. These poor dogs as well as puppies are in small cages, just feet away from their brother or sister who has already suffered what i'm sure was a painful death. Their skinned bodies hang upside down ready to be sold. You can see it in their eyes. The fear and confusion. Anyone who has a dog knows how smart they are. I can only assume that they knew what their fate would ultimately be. As a person who eats meat, it's hypocritical of me to judge others and impose on them what i think they should or should not eat. But whether i am a meat eater or not, there are just some species that shouldn't be eaten. And these are the ones that have proven to be smarter than some human beings. I don't blame the poor people who are doing this to dogs, i blame the chinese government. These people are desperately poor and have little else to rely on for food. The chinese government is so proud of all the money they have yet they do so little for their own people. If you can't help them, then they definitely won't be helping you. It takes the saying 'the poor get poorer and the rich gets richer' to a whole other level. As for the doc, I wanted to keep watching but little pretzel was also in the room and was starting to ask questions about what was going on in the doc so we had to change the channel. Now, even though i want to watch it, i can't bring myself to. So much horrible stuff! I hope i can work up the guts to get through it.

It almost feels wrong to put fotos of my buddies on this same post but their friendly faces only drives home my point.