Gwyn Brown Deputy Rabbit www.sunlive.co.nz

Why is it wrong to hunt whales for food?

It's an unwritten rule here in NZ that we are against whaling in the same way we are against nuclear weapons.

But why is it wrong to eat whale? Instead of sprouting horns and steam infested ears while battling your way to your keyboard to email me a stern telling off, just take a minute to consider the logic.

Let's put aside the endangered issue, because no species deserves to be hunted to extinction. I'm not suggesting that we hunt or even eat an endangered species. And as we are at the top of the food chain it is our responsibility to assist those creatures that are further down and affected by our own activities, which is all of them really.

We shouldn't be polluting the oceans, or harvesting them to the point of collapse, or destroying the rain forest to grow palm oil. That's just stupidity, and if we don't put a stop to it soon, we will deserve what we get.

Fact remains, we need to eat and since there is unlikely to be a consensus on population control, more and more food will be needed. We could just have a major world war, or another Spanish Flu outbreak; either is always good for population control.

No? Back to whales then.

We produce meat in this country for consumption and it's delicious, especially bacon.

Not all of us eat meat and I respect the various reasons behind that choice. But I ask you, what is the difference between animals? Why is it ok to eat cows, but not horses? Is it because the horse is valued higher?

The Swiss eat horse, as do a lot of other cultures. In the Middle East, the goat is the meat of choice along with the camel, mainly because they are both hardy things and tolerant of a dry climate and little greenery. We eat goat here but it's not popular.

We don't jump up and down about another culture eating them though. There aren't any save the camel organisations in NZ that I am aware of. If there are, they are keeping a low profile.

Most NZ'ers are not too happy with Asian and Pacific countries that eat dogs either. But again, why is this wrong?

Why do we value one creature above another? Dogs are pets, right, but so are sheep and cows to some of us. The wife has two pet pigs, Itchy and Scratchy, and my do they look tasty. But, since they are her pets, I don't think I could eat them, unless I had to. Maybe I could starve myself and then claim necessity. Na, better not.

Have you been down to the farm and seen how cows behave with each other, how they socialise together, how they know when it's milking time? They're not stupid. But we eat them anyway. And the pig, it's as smart as a dog, but we eat it.

Most of us don't care, don't want to know and wouldn't be capable of killing our own food if we had to.

Some of us stick a hook in a baby fish to catch its parents, then suffocate them to death in a bin of ice because we can't kill them humanely. Some of us even hook the fish, have fun with it, tire it to the point of death from exhaustion, stick a tag in its flesh all the while laughing and smiling for the camera, then release it so someone else can enjoy the same medieval torture session.

Do fish feel pain? Do you care? Why do you care more about whales than fish? Aren't they the same? Well, one's a mammal, and one isn't. Is that the difference for you? What about bullfighting, is that any different?

What is wrong with eating whales? Are they any different from sheep, or cattle, or pigs or goats or chickens or tuna or swordfish?

Who judges which animal is higher or lower on the food chain, which should be considered food and which should not?

Here's a thought for you: If an animal is not endangered, and it can be harvested sustainably, killed humanely, and it's a viable food source, why shouldn't we eat it? After all it's a choice isn't it?

You know what shouldn't be a choice? Killing an animal as a trophy to make you feel superior. That shouldn't be a choice, because that just makes you a word that can't be typed in this column.

Why then do we condone the fishing fleets hunting the Bluefin tuna to extinction? If you eat it, then you condone it and agree with the methods used. And if you don't know the methods used and still eat it, then you're ignorant.

What if there was an ocean farm growing tuna sustainably, would you eat it? Guess what, there is, and you do. Now, what if there was an ocean farm growing whales sustainably. Would you eat them?

It's a choice, isn't it?