The students from Kingman Hall — one of the houses in the Berkeley Student Cooperative — who killed and ate rabbits last week on the premises may face punishment from the BSC as a result of their actions.
Elaina Marshalek, president of the BSC Board of Directors, said she had heard that the rabbits were killed outside the house, but that the BSC is still investigating whether any infractions occurred. Additionally, one of the main concerns is that meat that was not approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture was used in Kingman Hall’s kitchen.
“We have restaurant-grade kitchens comparable to the one in Chez Panisse, so we insist that only USDA-approved meat is used,” Marshalek said. “Now, we need to make sure the kitchen (in Kingman Hall) is up to code.”
Gabe Schwartzman, a resident of Kingman who submitted an op-ed to The Daily Californian in defense of killing and cooking the rabbits, confirmed that the rabbits he and housemates cooked were not USDA-approved.
Since no similar situation has ever come up at any of the BSC residences, Marshalek said they must investigate to see how best to apply their policies before determining punishments, if any. However, it is possible that Schwartzman may face removal from his position as a kitchen manager because of his actions.
“We have clear protocol for Kitchen Managers who are required to keep kitchens up to code with health regulations,” Marshalek said in an email. “If there is a failure to follow this policy, then we will take action in line with our BSC policy.”
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Correction(s):
An earlier version of this blog post incorrectly stated that students who killed and ate the rabbits would not face punishment. In fact, the Berkeley Student Cooperative is still investigating whether any rule infractions occurred.
An earlier version of this headline incorrectly stated that students who killed and ate the rabbits would not face punishment. In fact, the Berkeley Student Cooperative is still investigating whether any rule infractions occurred.
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Funny how the same type of people who would advocate aborting a human fetus in the name of being “pro-choice” are hysterical when it comes to killing a freaking rabbit for food.
In other news, it was discovered that the popular Oscar’s on Shattuck Avenue has for years been selling chopped up dead cows.
As a pet rabbit fan, I think the “locavore” movement using rabbits as food is just plain wrong. There are millions (estimated at 1.5 to 4 million) people who have rabbits as pets in the United States. In fact, there are several rabbit rescue organizations in the Bay Area including the House Rabbit Society which is headquartered near Oakland. Rabbits are the third most popular pet in the USA behind cats and dogs. This return to eating rabbits is not acceptable to the growing number of people who know these animals as pets.
The so called “meat” rabbits such as the New Zealand Whites, Californians, Harlequins, Satins and others are some of the best socialized pets. Rabbits can be trained to be “therapy rabbits” just like dogs who visit long-term care facilities and hospices. We don’t eat cats and dogs in this country and rabbits are similar pets. Rabbits purr (softly grinding their teeth) when petted, can be littered box trained, clicker trained like dogs, enjoy affection, bond with their owners for life and other animals, and can be cage free in a bunny-proofed home. We are omnivores, we can make a choice Not to eat rabbits just like we have with cats and dogs. Or is this China where 500 dogs were recently rescued headed for a meat producing facility.
It is a fact rabbits carry zoonotic diseases that can be transmitted if not cooked properly. So the concern about the lack of inspections by the USDA is warranted. Since rabbits are butchered for meat anywhere from 7 weeks to 12 weeks old with many killed even before they are weaned at 8 weeks this is like consuming veal. This dichotomy concerning the use of rabbits in our culture is grotesque and repulsive to the millions of us who know them as pets.
Sorry, but your arbitrary emotional attachment to rabbits as pets has absolutely no bearing on the moral implications of eating them. Norms on what animals are acceptable to eat vary from culture to culture, and the cuteness of an animal or the fact they “purr” are horrible metrics for deciding what is or is not okay to eat. There are definitely reasoned arguments against eating meat, but creating a false dichotomy between “pets” and “meat” is not one of them.
It is not an arbitrary emotional attachment. These are the only animals in our culture that are now kept as pets by millions of people and used as “meat” by others. Those “metrics” you refer to are the same metrics we use to keep dogs and cats as pets – so why don’t they apply to rabbits. Yes, the norms vary from culture to culture. Do you have a dog? Or maybe a cat? Frankly, I see a huge contradiction in petting a rabbit one moment and then sliting its throat the next to make a braised loin of rabbit. I never said rabbits were “cute.” This isn’t some “bambi complex” or a “thumper syndrome” as you suggest. Your comment is one I have heard time and time again when someone wants to be derisive toward people who don’t share the same view of eating animals especially rabbits, i.e., the animal lover must be a suffering from a neurotic issue, and anthropomorphizes animals to the extent they won’t eat them. Give me a break. Better yet, go volunteer at a rabbit rescue or any animal shelter for that matter. As an omnivore maybe you need to get in touch with your herbivore side.
“These are the only animals in our culture that are now kept as pets by millions of people and used as “meat” by others.”What about fish? Or dogs in some parts of the world? Different people keep or eat different animals for different reason. You are still trying to prescribe a moral choice rooted in your emotional attachment to certain animals.
Yes, I have both a cat and a dog. Though I have no desire to do so, I find no moral problem inherent in people also eating these animals as pets. The fact that many people do not want to eat these animals as pets is not an ethical indictment against doing so; it is merely social custom.
Maybe you have heard this point of view so many times because your argument fails basic standards of logical self-consistency. Volunteering at an animal shelter does not qualify you in any way whatsoever to decide what other people do or do not eat.
Your Freudian slip was amazing.
“I find no moral problem inherent in people also eating these animals as pets.”
Eating animals as pets, and petting them as food?
meh, his point is still really good.
I’m kinda hungry, wanna bring that pet dog of yours over? I pay top dollar for *good* dog meat. Mmm, mmm …dog.
No. It is NOT ok to eat dog here. Or cat, so yes, “metrics” of cultural standards ARE relevant, dumbass. Serving rabbit as “mystery meat”?? Whoinhell would find THAT acceptable?
Look in the mirror and remind yourself that you are an idiot who should never express an opinion in public, lest those around you who might not have already figured it out (I suspect that’ll be a very small number), do so.
… cries of impending doom rose from the soil.
One thousand, nay a million voices full of fear.
And terror possessed me
then.
And I begged, “Angel of the Lord, what are these tortured screams?”
And the angel said unto me, “These are the cries of the carrots, the cries
of the carrots! You see, Reverend Maynard, tomorrow is harvest day and to
them it is the holocaust.” And I sprang from my slumber drenched in sweat
like the tears of one million terrified brothers and roared, “Hear me now,
I have seen the light! They have a consciousness, they have a life, they
have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers!”
People for the Ethical Treatment of Plants is weighing in? Please!
This. Is. Necessary.
This. Is. Necessary.
Life feeds on life, feeds on life, feeds on life, feeds on…
This. Is. Necessary.