the roo cow

you have got to be fucking kidding me.

it is unbelievable to me what we are willing to do to other creatures to avoid making changes in our own behavior. in sydney, scientists are trying to isolate a bacteria present in the kangaroo digestive system that increases the efficiency of digestion such that they do not produce methane in their flatulence. they want to make transgenic anti-methane-farting cows.

my immediate reaction to this is to emphasize the extent to which we already use hormones and steroids to manipulate the physiology of sheep and cattle to support our consumption habits.

secondarily, i migrate to thoughts about feed production and the amount of grain used to fatten cattle that could be used in fair trade to help poverty stricken areas of drought and lack of food. supposedly, this bacteria increases efficiency of digestion such that farmers could reduce the amount of feed used to fatten cattle... of course, "decreasing the cost to farmers by millions of dollars," but who really cares about what benefit that might have to the animal, right?

here's my dilemma. do you fight against yet another forced alteration in cow physiology in the name of turning the action toward changing human behavior? or do you allow the isolation and transduction of this bacteria that might make our forced feeding protocol easier on the cow, but continue to steer responsibility away from humans?

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=29&art_id=vn20071207092135298C758249&set_id=1