Paul Hansen's Blog – April 2012 Archive (2)

In a previous blog post, I suggested that the history of animal exploitation was like a centuries-old ‘trail of tears’ in that, just as the Indian Removal Act of 1830 forcibly separated Native Americans from their homelands, so the treating of animals as mere commodities separated them from their natural lives and habitats. In the case of the Cherokee and other tribes, white Americans sought to acquire their land and the tribes were simply “in the way.” In the case…

During August of 2010, the Animal Planet channel repeatedly televised a documentary entitled “The Last Cowboy,” which narrates the lifestyle, work habits, struggles, and rewards of three Wyoming cattle ranches—those owned by the Stuckey, Hughes, and Galt families respectively. 

Every year at the end of “calving” season, family members must assist in branding each new animal in the herd, which may include as many as 400 “head.” This entails roping, dragging, innoculating, and…