Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Self-sufficient Brits target animal sanctuaries for food

As Brits attempt to save money during the recession, animals raised as pets could be heading straight for the pot, warns pet behaviour specialist Debbie Connolly.

Ms Connolly, star of BBC’s Dog Borstal , claims that people should be careful who they sell their pets to - particularly rabbits, goats and pigs.

Ms Connolly, founder of SafePets and volunteer at the Trallwm Farm Animal Sanctuary in south Wales, is said to be "hopping mad" at the number of enquiries from people looking for pets to fatten up.

She said: "Last week a lady rang me up to ask if she could adopt the two goats I’m currently looking after. When I asked if she intended to keep them as pets she 'ummed' and 'ahhed' and said 'probably not'. I couldn’t believe she thought I’d give them to her when it was quite clear she planned to eat them."

However, this is not the first such incident. Ms Connolly claims she receive a number of similar calls every week.

She said: "People seem very surprised when I say we only provide pets, not breeding machines or dinner.

"I understand times are hard but people need to be careful who they give or sell their pets to. More and more people are trying to buy our animals with the intention of selling them on for their meat.

via Vetsonline | Latest Headlines | Self-sufficient Brits target animal sanctuaries for food.

Wikipedia has an entry on dog meat.  Gross.

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