Martha--I think you and I live in the same general region of the country so you probably know that here in the Ozark bioregion huge confined animal operations are the norm (hogs and poultry). There used to be trout farms but those have gone by the wayside with the decline in water quality caused by the large animal operations. You can't find a clean safe swimming hole anymore which bothers people more than what effect all this animal waste pollution has on the wildlife forced to drink it. Before moving here, I certainly knew these big farms were bad but I didn't know just how bad. The cruelty is really in your face (and nose) every day and no one much seems to give the welfare of the animals a second thought. At any rate these frustrations leaked over in my post last night. I guess bringing up spirituality is always done at the risk of sounding preachy but it was not my intention to pull a holier-than-thou on hard working farmers struggling to stay in business. I just don't see how a person can make a living off raising large numbers of animals and not wind up pushing them for production's sake. Like taking calves away from their mothers at 3 days old. Raising fish in a pond I can see. Fish in tanks, which is what I thought we were talking about, would seem to lead to problems.
With respect and fondness for you, Martha. Sorry if my words hurt. Deborah
