Can people not make the distinction between food and pets? Why is this such a tough concept for celebrities and many urbanites?
The most recent example of such people is Ryan Gosling.
In the Globe and Mail recently, Gosling — described in the august newspaper as a Canadian actor, director, writer, musician and animal advocate — said he takes his “beloved dog George with me almost everywhere I go,” including on stage with Jimmy Fallon.
This is apparently because George has personality, feels physical and mental pain, and, I trust, is also a great companion.
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Gosling then transfers George’s finer qualities to pigs and admittedly makes the excellent point that pigs are smart. Very smart. Indeed, it makes me wonder if pigs might make even better pets than dogs.
But would Gosling take a pregnant pig on the Fallon show? Would that be humane?
The main point of Gosling’s Globe piece is that pregnant pigs should not be forced into gestation stalls while waiting for their piglets to be born. Is he right? It depends on your point of view.
To the average eye, a stall looks like a pig prison. To a hog producer, and possibly to a vulnerable sow, it looks like protection. To them, it’s about pigs bullying each other versus pigs safely delivering the next generation.
But the big issue for agriculture is that big names like Ryan Gosling are wading into the debate about sow stalls, with big articles in big newspapers like The Globe and Mail.
In the article, he pulled on urban, pet-owning heartstrings by comparing George, the amazing dog, with pigs, the intelligent beasts — a pretty smart tactic.
Fortunately, says the Center for Consumer Freedom’s Will Coggin in a recent WP article, consumers can be persuaded to see the other side if it is explained to them (see the article on Gosling and Coggin’s response on page 14 of last week’s edition).
We can have this debate all we want in the pages of The Western Producer, but that’s not where confusion reigns. The production side of the debate must be explained in the mainstream, off the farm, in the cities and towns, and it must be done right smartly.
Don’t let Mr. Gosling’s one-sided message go unchallenged. Our industry has to take the debate down-town.
