Animals on the menu

What a strange relationship we humans have with our furry friends. We eat them and we cuddle them. We feed them, we play with them, we make money from them, we hunt them, we build tourism around them, we breed them, we teach them tricks and we pass legislation to protect them. In short, we use them for any purpose we wish and, generally, we realise that with this power comes some responsibility.With the exception of those that are regarded as pests, our reaction towards animals is usually positive. But occasionally, humans do deviate and torture animals, which debases our human dignity and such mistreatment is rightly seen as an abomination. Feeding and caring for animals such that they end up sizzling in our frying pans, however, is seen as another matter. Creating inhumane environments for high‐throughput chicken production is generally accepted, apparently because it has reduced the price of succulent chicken breasts to a level where they are a commodity rather than an occasional luxury. Society has obviously accepted the concept of ‘man the hunter’—even when it equates today to ‘man the shopper’—and has balanced animal rights against practical benefits to our agricultural sector. …