Animal welfare - the bad and the good

What do you think is the third most farmed animal in the UK?

I was quite surprised to learn that the answer is ducks.

Over the weekend I read on Tales of simple days. about a campaign that the RSPCA (Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) is running to persuade the supermarkets to buy duck meat from suppliers who give ducks full body access to water, so that they can fully bathe in water. See this link for The sad tale of Jennifer the duck. 

Our neighbouring village has a duck pond and it is so lovely to see the wild ducks swimming in this beautiful setting.

The ducks here aren't always popular though, an incident happened earlier in the year when the annual scarecrow's competition was held. The theme unsurprisingly was "The Olympics".

Unfortunately the synchronised swimmers had to be removed after a few days as the ducks had eaten the straw that had been used for their heads!

We don't eat very much meat, and we  always try where possible, to buy local good quality free range meat . This quote comes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall :-

Think about the meat that you eat. Is it good enough? Good enough to bring you pleasure every time you eat it? Could it, should it be better? Are you among the millions of consumers putting pressure on farmers to produce mountains of cheap meat of dubious quality, by dubious means? Perhaps it would make sense to spend a little more on it, a little less often. Or to buy cheaper cuts of better meat.”

Occasionally during the year we visit local producers and learn how they run their businesses of rearing their animals - this year we have been to a smallholding rearing pigs, and a water buffalo farm. We are always heartened to see the care and devotion that the owners give to their animals. These are such good examples and show the huge difference in the way our meat is produced and the how the animals are cared for.

Thank you everyone so much for commenting of my last post. I was quite over whelmed with the response and the  wonderful company It was just as well  it was a virtual walk or the beach would have been very crowded! Welcome  and hello to my new followers Joy (if you have a blog please let me know), and thank you Janice for your link.

Sarah x