The Evolutionary History of Farm Animal Series

For those reading this, I do not want people to think that I'm going on the deep end with veganism just because my now ex broke up with me a month ago. He was a damned meat-eater anyway and I'll save the whole dating and veganism for another threat (I promise).

I decided to write about the evolutionary history of domesticated animals for two reasons. First, it's to show that chickens, cows, sheeps, pigs and other domesticated animals did not just come to be. They are bred to be what we know them as today. I also want to show that just because an animal is genetically modified for human use that it does not mean that we should treat them like despensible beings bred for exploitation. What makes being human different from any other animal, especially a farm animal is that we have the ability to choose the way we want to adapt to our environment. The religious and those who believe in its concept will call it free will.  This idea of choice is especially true for first world countries. I have another blog dedicated to transhumanism and science/science fiction. I am a vegan that advocates for genetic modification of the human gene to make us more adapted to our environment. You never know. Someday humans will be evolved enough not to use animals to make the quality of live better for humans...

The second reason why I'm going to research and write about the evolutionary history of domesticated animals is to show that evolution is the best way to explain why life on this earth and in this galaxy is so diverse. My uncle dated a woman who was (and still is) an animal lover and she believes in the concept of evolution. If she had a degree in animal science, she would have been the best vet I would ever meet.

Initially, what inspired me to write about this in the near future is when my mom asked me about a certain breed of chicken. I looked up chicken and they are descendents of a tropical foul that originated in Sri Lanka. From there, it's been cross bred many times over to what we come to know as the chicken.

That's a preview of what I'll be writing about. I am not getting my degree in biology (Although I should. It won't fit with an art degree). I won't claim to be an expert in animal science, nor do I claim to be an expert in anyother of the sciences. I do plan on having pictures, charts, graphs, citations in this series that I'll be posting once a week.

Because this is a VEGAN blog, I decided to start off with the following animals:

Chicken
Cow
Pig
Sheep
Goat
Duck
Geese
Dog
Cat
Rabbits

I decided to start off with what I think is the worst treated animal in factory farming industry. I think that the chicken is the worst treated animal in the farming industry. Chickens are not only produced for meat and their eggs, but they also suffer the most cruelty when being slaughtered. Cows are also some of the worst treated because of the suffering they go through to obtain milk and the experiences they suffer in slaughter houses. I added goats to the list because in some countries goats are raised for meat and the fact that goats can be found on farms even in this country warrants its place on this list.

Ducks are favored as an animal protein in America during holidays. I remember during my meat eating days when I was a kid my grandmother served duck for thanksgiving. Like chickens, ducks are raised for their eggs and meat. Geese are usually raised in France for their liver. When their liver is fatten, the geese are slaughtered for fatten livers to be served as a delicacy called "fois gras" (french for fat liver) in upperclass restaurants. There is more awareness of the treatment of geese for their livers.I think that researching geese will show how they are domesticated. I added dog and cats for the second reason why I'll be doing this series.

Although there's widespread animal abuse in this country, I do feel like in the US and most places in the world dogs and cats are the "privileged" animals. Most people who happen to be omnivores/carnivores will stop at nothing to tear their teeth into some steak or drumsticks and yet someone from another country choses to do the same to dogs and cats, we are so quick to judge them and their culture. The idea of owning a pet to me is not vegan, because the animal is not truly free and that we are using another living being to compensate for what we as humans do not get from eachother.