A couple of months ago, I asked our subscribers what they thought about the Rabbit Skinning class that we’d scheduled.
I explained how the idea for the class came about (in Part 1 of this article), but that we’d sold no tickets, and that I’d had several strong complaints from people who thought the session was gratuitous and cruel.
These complaints gave me pause for thought, and I wondered if there was some kind of ethical or ecological conflict between foraging and animal welfare.
So I sent out a survey asking what people thought about it.
A big thank you to everyone who responded - the feedback has been very interesting, and overwhelmingly in favour of running the session.
88% said you thought we should run the class, 12% said not to, and of those who said yes we should do it, 68% also said they’d attend the class.
I explained how the idea for the class came about (in Part 1 of this article), but that we’d sold no tickets, and that I’d had several strong complaints from people who thought the session was gratuitous and cruel.
These complaints gave me pause for thought, and I wondered if there was some kind of ethical or ecological conflict between foraging and animal welfare.
So I sent out a survey asking what people thought about it.
A big thank you to everyone who responded - the feedback has been very interesting, and overwhelmingly in favour of running the session.
88% said you thought we should run the class, 12% said not to, and of those who said yes we should do it, 68% also said they’d attend the class.
The question of whether to run a class involving preparing a wild animal goes to the heart of the debate about eating meat in the modern world, and there were some well-argued replies.
This is just a sample of the comments we received:
“As a meat eater I am very far removed from the process of butchering the meat and I have always felt uncomfortable with that.”…
“I have to say that as a vegetarian of over 20 years I think all meat-eaters should have a go.”
Versus:
“The rabbit has not knowingly, consciously or willing given it's life to a human and we know that we do not need to eat animal flesh to live or survive.”
“A more valuable right of passage for a human with awareness and heart would be to observe rabbits and bond with them - not kill them.”
You can read all the responses here, it makes interesting reading, with some really good points from both sides of the argument.
If you have something to add to the debate, please have your say in the comments below.
Due to the hugely positive response, we have decided to re-schedule the class, on Sunday October 29th, tickets and more details here.
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