AR-News: Article on Freegan Cats and Dogs

[Adam Weissman, Wetlands Preserve]

Freegan Cats and Dogs
Adam Weissman

Within the vegan community there is much hand-wringing about what to 
feed cats and dogs.  Thes e animals are meat eaters by design.  While 
dogs, naturally omnivores,  seem to thrive on a meatless diet, the 
same cannot be said  for cats.

Some vegans refuse to support the exploitation of animals for their 
animal companions' food, and instead feed a vegan diet to their dogs 
and cats.  Others feel they have an obligation to provide a healthy 
diet to their dogs and cats and feed them meat.

Particularly in the case of cats,  neither option seems ideal. 
Thankfully, neither is necessary, thanks to freeganism.   As the 
online encyclopedia Wikepedia explains, "Freeganism is the practice 
of minimising one's impact on the environment by means of consuming 
food that has been thrown away by someone else (e.g. supermarkets).

Acting this way, a freegan has no responsibility for the material and 
energy resources used in the production process, since the goods have 
already exited the production-consumption cycle where money is used 
in exchange for goods."


   Every day restaurants, butcher shops, and supermarkets discard 
large quantities of both prepared and unprepared meat.   We tend to 
assume that an item  that is being discarded is no longer suitable to 
consume, but this is very often not the case.


Wilkepedia, once again: "In most developed countries, the quality 
demands and hygiene standards of consumers are so high that many 
foods stay perfectly edible for long periods of time after their 
expiry or "best before" dates."

Considering that most of these are "sell by"  and not "use by" dates, 
this is necessarily the case.  if a product is sold at 11 PM on the 
night of its  expiration date, are we to assume that it is inedible 
an hour later?  Expiration  dates are intended to build in a wide 
window  for usage after purchase.  This is something we assume 
without really thinking about it-- after all, we don't to throw away 
products in our refrigerator on the day they expire.

Often an item is thrown away long before expiration for a number of reasons:

* the store is phasing out a product line and wants to create shelf-space

* a newer shipment of the same product has arrived and there is not 
enough space to stock both the old and new product.  Since people 
tend to be more likely  to buy a product with a later date when give 
the choice, the older product, which would be outsold is prematurely 
tossed.

* an item is prepared and sold "fresh"-- rotisserie chickens for 
example.  No one wants to buy yesterday's rotisserie chicken, so  at 
the end of the day the whole chickens are removed from the rotisserie 
and tossed-- a colossal and pointless waste of life.   This common 
practice at short order restaurants,  fast food sellers, deli 
counters,  fish markets, hot buffet bars, etc.

These items will ultimately end up decomposing in a  landfill, a 
tragic waste of the lives of the animals slaughtered for them.

Thankfully, there are ways that we can both provide for  our animals 
needs and at least ensure that the deaths of these slaughtered 
animals aren't completely in vain.

The simplest way to do this is to approach retailers and ask them if 
they would be willing to give you leftover met free of charge at the 
end of the day that they would otherwise toss so that you can feed 
your dogs and cats.  This approach may be particularly effective for 
people  involved in shelter or rescue activities, because, in our 
culture of denial, meat sellers don't think of themselves as 
anti-animal and may be all too happy to help the good cause of animal 
rescue.  they may even talk about how they are animal lovers!

Another approach is to get to  know the disposal habits of stores. 
In many cases its east to find the trash bag or dumpster where 
they've tossed they day's meat.  In colder months, spoilage is a 
non-issue, but in warmer months, of course, it is important to try to 
collect this meat shortly after it is discarded.  Even though it is 
probably in fine shape at the time it is discarded, we needn't give 
it the opportunity to rot thereafter.   Of course, common sense 
applies here.  We should apply the same discrimination with our 
senses when recovering meat  from trash as we would when buying a 
food item from a store.   Ideally, the foods we are recover are in 
their own bag or in a bag solely with other food, but if other items 
are  also in the bag,  we should look for anything that could be 
potentially hazardous and air on the side of caution.   And needless 
to say we should adequately cook and clean all items obtained.

Ironically, this mean is probably much SAFER than the meat in the wet 
and dry dog and cat foods we buy at stores.  While good packaging 
makes us think of these products as safe and sanitary, they often 
contain the lowest quality  by-products-- flesh that would never be 
approved for human consumption.  For more on this read the Animal 
Protection Institute's report "What's Really in Pet Food"  
http://api4animals.org/79.htm By contrast, freegans consistently 
report from experience that the fears surrounding the foods they 
obtain are unwarranted.


Meat is not the only thing we can find for animal friends through 
these methods.  Dogs also thrive of the full range of plant 
foods-legumes, grains, fruit, and vegetables.  , and retailers 
dispose of large quantities of these in much that same way that they 
do meat   Even pet supply stores frequently throw away usable items 
for reasons like passed expiration dates and  torn or dented 
packaging.  This is very advantageous for filling more  obscure  food 
needs-- birdseed,  for example.

Thanks to freeganism, a no-win situation thus becomes win-win-win, as 
we support  our animals needs, reduce waste, and withhold financial 
support for animal exploitation.  To learn more about provide for 
EVERYONE's  needs through freeganism, visit http://freegan.info.

Free the trash!
-- 
How can you resist corporate  rule while mortgaging your body to 
their addictive chemicals? 
Wouldn't you rather die FIGHTING corporations instead of letting them 
profit off your illness and death?   Fight corporate power-- quit 
smoking!!


Recognizing the common roots of all forms of oppression, The Activism 
Center at Wetlands Preserve fights for human, animal, and earth 
liberation through protest, direct action, street theater, political 
advocacy, and public education.  We always new volunteers and 
interns! For more information call (201) 968-0595 or email 
activism at wetlands-preserve.org

AOL Instant Messenger SN: Adam of Wetlands

http://wetlands-preserve.org	  http://humanevoters.org 
	http://ftaareferendum.org   http://foodnotfur.org 
http://rainforestrelief.org