The Balance

I believe in animal rights.  I have done many blogs on the subject, the latest in relation to horse racing. 

I am pretty clear on what lines I will cross, what I believe is acceptable and what isn't.  For example, I won’t wear, and greatly oppose the fur trade.  Anyone wearing fur in my opinion is despicable.   Skinning an animal, in a lot of cases still alive, just for it’s coat and to then just throw away the carcass is something I will never understand.

There is a video on the PETA website, linked here which shows what happens.  I offer caution before you watch the video however, it broke my heart and I could not stop crying.

I an anti blood sports, including trophy hunting (see Trophy Hunting) and I don’t believe that animals belong in circuses or should be used for the entertainment of a crowd.

Because I have these beliefs, some people assume, and indeed think I should be, a vegetarian.  I’m not.  Whilst I am in no way the biggest carnivore in the world, this is purely from a taste point of view and not because I think that it is wrong.

All nature is a balance.  The lion eats the zebra.  The cat eats the mouse.  The spider eats the fly. Humans eat animals.  I don’t believe that there is anything wrong with that.  We aren’t built to live on plants.

I do believe however that we have a responsibility however to ensure that the animals we do eat should have the best life possible before the end.  So no battery chickens, championing local produce and most importantly, finding out where your food comes from and how it was treated. 

The lion may eat the zebra without a thought about it, but it doesn’t gather together it’s prey, ram them all together in a too small enclosure and sell off for a bigger profit.  It eats when it needs too.

Imagine a predator did this, but not to chickens, to us....

Tin Helmet at the Ready

IVF is a wonderful thing.  It gives hope to many people who want a child and although the success rate isn't the best, especially the older you get,  I can see why people want to use it.

IVF is also very expensive.  It is a choice.  Not a necessity.  You can, if you can afford it that is, pay for it yourself.  In the current climes not many people can afford the treatment and as such, they turn to the NHS to pay for it.

Whilst I support the right of people to have free IVF under the NHS, I do have a question.  Recent new stories have suggested that woman over the age of 40 are now to be given the option of having IVF.  The chances of success over the age of 40 are less than 5%.  Is this not a bad allocation of funds?

Currently cervical cancer checks are offered to women only over the age of 25.  Cancer can affect someone at any age.

I would think that than lowering the screening age for cervical cancer would be better, and would be infinitely more beneficial than funding IVF for woman over 40 which gives only a very small chance of success. Saving lives is what we should be aiming for.