Posted on 01/21/2005 7:42:08 AM PST by zoobee
Pet store animals cooked in school
Fri Jan 21 2005 08:35:35 ET
A Guinea pig and rabbit purchased from a Geauga County pet store ended up on plates at a Cleveland area high school.
A 16-year-old student skinned and cooked the animals during a living skills class on Wednesday, prompting student and parent complaints to the Thompson Township Police Department and Geauga Humane Society. Officials at both agencies said they are investigating.
Friday editions of the CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER detail how the incident may warrant animal cruelty charges.
Geauga Humane Officer Sarah Westman said it's illegal to needlessly kill "companion animals" raised for domestic purposes.
"Something irrational and wrong happened," Westman explained.
Ledgemont Principal Beto Gage acknowledged that "misjudgments" took place but said the boy's actions are far from criminal.
The student - whose name was not released - described what he did in terms of harvesting meat to fix a dish for classmates, Gage said.
The principal described the boy as an active hunter. The Ledgemont district covers the rural communities of Montville and Thompson townships, where killing - and then eating - wild game is fairly common.
The hunt, however, usually doesn't take place at Pet Supplies Plus.
The boy went to the Chardon store and purchased the Guinea pig and rabbit after coming up empty in the great outdoors.
"My skin's crawling over this," said Linda Schempp, a spokeswoman for the pet store chain. "We sell our animals to be family pets - not food."
Developing...
Guinea Pig: The other other OTHER OTHER white meat.
But...but....but.....bunnies and guinea pigs are *cute* so that's different.
(/sarcasm off)
Chile. At least a cuy is a lot like a guinea pig...
So you'd want maybe a white zinfandel to accompany it, then....
Where's the report on the teacher being sanctioned for this event?
Got it. Should the scientific term impress me? What's the distinction?
Barn rats eat grass too. Deer are basically gigantic, highly-athletic rats for that matter, and I eat venison all the time. I'm just trying to say it's not a noble beast like a dog or a cat or a horse for that matter. It's food.
I do think it was an ethical breach to buy animals intended as pets and serve them as food. I also think it is a possible lack of supervision or judgment on the part of the teacher to serve meat to students that was not controlled in any way for safety. But I actually think the kid got exactly what he wanted, attention. I'd bet my dog he did this for shock value, not any lessons on survival.
Isn't this what Ted Nugent calls, "Killin' and Grillin'"??
Ah, I see! Then maybe this fellow should be praised for broadening his fellow students' culinary horizons? ;)
Yes - it's all in the amount of pepper you use....;-)
Tenure.
Guinea pigs are regular fare in Peru. Where is the cultural sensitivity here?
They're dinner at my house. When I was a kid in the 60s it was fairly common to raise rabbits for food. We did it and so did some of our neighbors. We also had pet rabbits.
What's the issue here? Rabbit scarfing or pet store supermarkets?
From http://www.debmark.com/rabbits/basics.htm
Meat Rabbits
Meat Rabbits make up the next group.
They are characterized by weights between 8 and 12 pounds.
These rabbits are raised for both meat and fur.
Some of these may also be considered fancy rabbits because they have unusual fur, color, or ear characteristics.
Most of these rabbits are shown a great deal.
Rabbits in the meat group consume about 1-1/4 cup of feed per day and take up 7-1/2 sq ft of cage space.
They will command a price comparable to the medium size rabbits, about $20.00 for mature ones.
The rabbits that make up the meat group include:
American (Blue or White) 9 - 12 lbs
Beveren (Black, Blue, or White) 8 - 12 lbs
Californian (White with black ears, nose, feet, and tail) 8 - 10-1/2 lbs
Champagne D'Argent (Starts as black, mature is silver) 9 - 12 lbs
American Chinchilla 9 - 12 lbs
Cinnamon 8-1/2 - 11 lbs
Creme D'Argent 8 - 11 lbs
Hotot (White with black around its eyes) 8 - 11 lbs
English Lop (Many colors - giant lop ears) 9 - 14 lbs
French Lop (Many colors - regular lop ears) 10 - 15 lbs
New Zealand (Black, Red, or White) The standard meat rabbit 9 - 12 lbs
Palomino 8 - 11 lbs
Satin (Shiny coat - many colors) 8-1/2 - 11 lbs
Silver Fox (fur resembles fox) 9 - 12 lbs
Barn rats eat grass too. Deer are basically gigantic, highly-athletic rats for that matter, and I eat venison all the time. I'm just trying to say it's not a noble beast like a dog or a cat or a horse for that matter. It's food.Tail-gate fare? (are you getting excited Petronski? Lil over 55 hrs to go!)
Was the assignment that he actually had to cook up something for the class to eat? If it wasn't, couldn't he have just given a presentation about how to trap and cook wild game?
"Eating horses is very American. Horses were common across North America for millions of years until the arrival of the Clovis people. They didn't see the folly of eating horses, I bet if they could see into the future they would have changed their minds, and their descendants would still be in charge of their own lands today rather than have then overrun by Europeans. In contrast European peoples developed a taboo about eating horses, probably because they were so valuable economically and militarily. Once a people is settled and farming eating an animal doesn't lead to its loss, it leads to its proliferation. Cows are sacred in India because they are so valuable, but America has more cows than India despite eating them at every opportunity!
If you like horses you should want to see them farmed. A horsemeat industry increases the value of horses . . ."
They Eat Horses Don't They
Guinea pig, the other white meat!
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