Comments on: Monkeys, venison, and the sentience of dinner

By: Tovar

Tovar — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 12:50:28 +0000

Thanks!

By: Suburban Bushwacker

Suburban Bushwacker — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 10:45:19 +0000

Tovar
Spooky good – really great writing
Thanks
SBW

By: Tovar

Tovar — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:35:19 +0000

Thanks, Annette! I’m glad that you’re enjoying the blog and that it’s proving helpful to you. I learn a lot as I write the posts, and as I consider everyone’s responses.

It seems that many of us are considering these things: the ethics of our relationships to animals and also the emotions that get stirred by those relationships. Those feelings can run deep. I appreciated your recent post on the subject, and also Jess’s at OpenlyBalanced.

By: Sustainable Eats

Sustainable Eats — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 05:05:45 +0000

Tovar, I am loving your blog. A year ago I had no idea about the problems with our industrial meat system. Now I feel it necessary to either be present or butcher all the meat my family consumes. My husband doesn’t understand this need at all, nor do I completely. I’m so glad you and your readers are able to so eloquently put these emotions into words because it’s helping me to make sense of what I am going through. Thank you all! And I love the Last of the Mohicans reference, I thought of that as I went up to butcher my first pig. I know it wasn’t much of a hunt but it was a huge step for me, a mom in my early middles fresh from teeball practice.

By: Tovar

Tovar — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 02:22:17 +0000

Glad to hear you found Holly’s blog. Another fine member of the California contingent is Josh, who blogs at several locations, including “Ethics and the Environment” and “Lands on the Margin.”

By: Richard Mellott

Richard Mellott — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:52:09 +0000

Thanks for your response, Tovar. I’ve read Norcal Cazadora’s blog extensively, in the past week since I found it, although I haven’t commented. I’m still digging through Jesse’s Outdoors and a couple of others, as well as all of the Youtube videos. I’m looking forward to this summer season, and to the fall. I live in Southern California, but I travel North a lot, as I have a brother-in-law in the Bay area. My last fishing trip there was to Indian Valley Reservoir, and I have hunting and fishing connections to Sacramento and Marysville.
I may just start voicing my opinions on blogs like this, in order to connect with like-minded hunters.

By: Tovar

Tovar — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:52:16 +0000

Hello, Richard! Thanks for taking the time to comment. I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying the blog.

The questions you’ve wrestled with over the years, your experience of hunting, and your philosophy are certainly resonant for me. And, I think, for a number of others who discuss these things here on a regular basis.

Some of these good folks are from California, including Phillip above and Holly (NorCal Cazadora). If you want more CA-related info or contacts, I imagine they may be able to help.

Your commitment to living fully and taking respectful responsibility is admirable. I’m glad to hear it didn’t lead to you getting recycled off the coast of Long Beach the other day! Those close brushes with death have a way of getting our attention, don’t they? I’m looking forward to hearing your voice here when you have the time and inclination.

By: Tovar

Tovar — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:21:59 +0000

Nicely put, Phillip.

We’re talking about much the same thing. I’m using “sentience” broadly here, including the ability to feel (physically and otherwise), awareness, and what you’re calling “consciousness.” Like you, I’m troubled by the idea of denying those things in animals.

By: Tovar

Tovar — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:15:41 +0000

Thanks, John. Glad to be able to echo things you’ve felt, too.

By: Tovar

Tovar — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:14:38 +0000

True. Though after three years I was wondering if venison would ever be part of my success!