Our relationship with animals

Are you someone who doesn’t think twice about buying a packet of drumsticks at your local supermarket, yet feel horrified at the thought of someone slaughtering his “pet chicken”?

In our modern world we find it increasingly difficult to draw a line between farm animals and pets. In the secure cocoon we call home, we love our cat or dog (or parrot, horse or marmoset) so much that we feel ill when someone neglects or abuses their animals or, heaven forbid, eats them. This is also true when we see images of hunters smiling as they pose with the carcass of an antelope, giraffe or lion they’ve shot. (Just as distressing is the growing number of people who spew bile about this on social media and believe they’re changing the world in the process.)

When Platteland was conceived two years ago, we knew each issue would include an article about animals and, after a lengthy discussion, we decided the animals in the magazine would always be “pets” – like “children in the home”.

Since early times, people have interacted with animals. Some of these animals would rip us apart so we had to come up with ways to survive. Eventually, we all became happy hunter-gatherers, until agriculture as we know it originated 12 000 years ago and turned some of us into farmers.

Whether we want to admit it or not, once upon a time, humans not only fed and cared for animals on a daily basis, but also slaughtered and ate them. This was a normal way of life, certainly not the ethical maze it has become.

We’d therefore like to you read the article on page 62 about a young couple who decided to keep chickens so they would have a ready supply of eggs. They then made the difficult decision to address the issue of having too many cockerels themselves rather than closing their eyes and sending the birds to the township just to avoid having blood on their hands.

Please tell us what you think about this sensitive subject. We’re interested in hearing your thoughts.