Originally Posted by
Iscah 
I just wanted to talk about my fair experience that I had the other day.
My favorite thing to do at our county fair every year is to go and see the animals. They always have barns set up with animals in them (rabbits, pigs, cows, ect...) I've never really liked the conditions that these animals are in. They're basically stuffed in cages all day in hot buildings. There are big fans, but they're hardly any help. In the rabbit building, the rabbits were laying in their cages, breathing rather quickly. Sometimes there would be three rabbits to a cage. (I believe all the animals there are for some kind of contest. There's always ribbons on the cages). On the floor of the building, there were some rabbits in cages that were as big as the rabbits themselves. All they could do was lay down in them.
I also noticed something else for the first time. The labels on the two buildings for the cows were "Dairy" and "Beef." When my boyfriend and I went to go see the pigs he commented, "I'm surprised it's not labeled 'Bacon.'"
Random Comment: Also, people always tell me that it doesn't hurt an animal to pick them up by the scruff of the neck, but it has always bothered me to see this done and I never liked doing it myself. The rabbits were being picked up like that.
Another incident that occurred involved "fainting" goats. To feed them, you had to pay a dollar. My boyfriend and I were standing next to the pen they were in, and we fed them a little grass through the wire. The guy who was watching the goats let these two girls in (they had to be about age 11-13, and I'm assuming he knew them somehow). I was surprised and angered when these girls began to scare the goats. The guy would point at a goat and say "No, try that one." So the girls would run after the goats and scream at them, and naturally the goats would run away. Finally, I yelled, "How about you leave the goats alone?" And the girl I had yelled at just stopped and gave me this dumbstruck look. The guy who had let them in told me, "It's alright. They're fainting goats. When you scare them they faint. It doesn't hurt them. I promise." The guy that was handling the ponies (ya know, the pony circle dealies where they just walk in a circle so kids can ride them?) noticed that we were feeding the goats through the wire and told us that if we wanted to feed the goats we had to pay a dollar. We walked away and Mark made the comment, "So you have to pay to feed them, but people are allowed to go in there and scare them for free?" So the girls continued to terrorize the goats for a little while after that. It was annoying.
I don't understand. Why would you want to make an animal afraid of you? Why make an animal fear you? So you can get a kick out of seeing the animal "faint?" Am I making too big of a deal out of this? This year at the fair was an eye opener for me, though. Animals cramped in small cages, row after row, in hot buildings. Some had very dirty water by the way. And all just to show off a ribbon...(though some geese made a point to completely rip the ribbons hanging from their cage in half which was entertaining). It made me compare it to how animals are treated in testing labs or factory farms. And then seeing the tags in the cows' ears sheeps' ears...just numbers here for our entertainment. I also wonder about the ponies just walking around in a circle all day. Do they get water or food? Do they get a break?
Just wanted to tell about that day and see what you would think of it. Anyone else have a similar experience?
