I agree completely with Heater's original assertions (post #2). To achieve the best yield and best quality, animals have to be happy and not stressed. So whether we're talking stockyards or mink farms, the conditions are arranged for a high level of contentment for the residents.
As mentioned before, an experiment was conducted years ago where a chicken cage was devised that allowed the chicken inside to adjust the cage's size (by pecking on one disk or another). Researchers quickly discovered that some chickens liked a roomier cage, and others preferred closer quarters. Through selective breeding, the scientists achieved a strain of chicken that was uniformly content to be packed in.
Some uninformed visitor to an egg production facility might be aghast at the crowded conditions, without appreciating for a moment the perspective of the hens. Same with stockyards and mink farms. It would be birdbrained to apply our human value system to critters. Even among humans, some of us choose to live in tiny apartments in the middle of congested cities, and others of us elect to live in the middle of nowhere.
I think you are pretty much spot on re: Scandinavia and Finland. Of course there are 5 or more percent of people in Finland who have Swedish as their first language so it's not so clear cut however Scandinavia is defined now a days.
Then there are those Sami people in the north, who still speak Sami. Sometimes I think that for a long time those guys were herding their reindeer across the top of Europe and into Russia with little regard for what country we might think they are in.
A few years back I was hiking up the trail to Kebnekaise. 6Km up from the last road there was a lake and a bunch of Sami guys selling burgers from a stall. "SamiBurgers" made from reindeer. McDonalds eat your heat out.
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As mentioned before, an experiment was conducted years ago where a chicken cage was devised that allowed the chicken inside to adjust the cage's size (by pecking on one disk or another). Researchers quickly discovered that some chickens liked a roomier cage, and others preferred closer quarters. Through selective breeding, the scientists achieved a strain of chicken that was uniformly content to be packed in.
Some uninformed visitor to an egg production facility might be aghast at the crowded conditions, without appreciating for a moment the perspective of the hens. Same with stockyards and mink farms. It would be birdbrained to apply our human value system to critters. Even among humans, some of us choose to live in tiny apartments in the middle of congested cities, and others of us elect to live in the middle of nowhere.
I think you are pretty much spot on re: Scandinavia and Finland. Of course there are 5 or more percent of people in Finland who have Swedish as their first language so it's not so clear cut however Scandinavia is defined now a days.
Then there are those Sami people in the north, who still speak Sami. Sometimes I think that for a long time those guys were herding their reindeer across the top of Europe and into Russia with little regard for what country we might think they are in.
A few years back I was hiking up the trail to Kebnekaise. 6Km up from the last road there was a lake and a bunch of Sami guys selling burgers from a stall. "SamiBurgers" made from reindeer. McDonalds eat your heat out.