10/15/2019
Thoughts for all of us who farm ranch or homestead.
*I want to preface this writing with saying there is absolutely nothing for sale in this post. Literally nothing. If Facebook pulls it, they will simply be censoring my opinion and my lifestyle, not enforcing an arbitrary set of community standards.*
The Reality of Facebook’s No Live Animal Sales Policy
Facebook has a policy against sales of “live animals and animal parts”. On the surface the policy probably makes sense to many kindhearted people. The thought being if a disreputable dog breeder can’t sell the puppies they breed, they may choose not to breed more, because nobody wants stuck with a litter of puppies that they can’t find homes for, especially if they were just in it for the money. So if you can somehow limit the disreputable breeders making money, you might be able to limit the number of unwanted dogs ending up in shelters. It’s a really flawed theory, but it makes some sense on the surface.
Livestock however should probably have been exempted from this policy from the beginning, and these pictures of rabbits I recently had for sale show you exactly why. When livestock isn’t sold this is what becomes of them, they don’t end up in overcrowded shelters, they become food. No farmer thinks “well shucks, Facebook keeps throwing me in jail for selling animals, might as well give up the farm”. Nope. We keep breeding and we eat really well. Not only do we eat well, so do our dogs, cats, and other critters. And I don’t even have to personally eat the ones I can’t sell alive. I can still make money even after they’re dead. In the state of West Virginia, any rabbit I can’t sell alive to another homesteader, I can actually butcher it myself and sell it processed to a restaurant, grocery store, wholesale distributor, or to other families. Legally I can butcher and sell 20,000 processed rabbits per year. That was not a typo. 20,000 rabbits. I can also butcher and sell another 20,000 in chickens/ducks/turkeys/etc. 40,000 small animals processed and sold directly to the public by myself each year. And any large animal I raise, such as hogs, cattle, or goats can easily be taken to the meat processor 30 minutes away. Then I can sell them out of my freezer to anyone looking for farm raised meat. No matter how many times Facebook throws me in jail, I still have a legal market for any animal I don’t sell alive. With livestock you never think “Oh my! I’m stuck with all these unsold animals, guess I should just stop raising them”. In fact, despite quite a few stints in Facebook jail, not only did I butcher these rabbits for meat today, I’m getting ready to breed more rabbits and I recently had new batch of chicks hatch. It’s the circle of life. They’re born, they’re offered for sale to other farmers and homesteaders (not on Facebook now though), and once again those that don’t sell will end up in my freezer or someone else’s. That’s just how it works on a farm. So banning the sales of livestock doesn’t actually change anything except for the platform where farmers post their livestock. Hint hint we are all making the move to MeWe.
I mentioned earlier that this was a flawed policy, even where dogs and cats are concerned, here’s why. Unscrupulous people have been over breeding dogs and cats for decades. Facebook didn’t create the puppy mill breeders. They already existed. And even after Facebook is gone, they will still exist unless we educate people. Banning the sales of dogs and cats just means there are less ethical breeders for people to choose their next pet from. Instead of following a breeder’s page and learning how they raise their animals, what health tests they have done, and building an actual relationship with them, they’ll just buy a dog or cat from some “breeder” sitting outside Walmart with a litter in the trunk of their car. The ban doesn’t stop the sketchy folk. They have no scruples and will set up anywhere and everywhere to make their money. And because Facebook is shutting down pages run by ethical breeders, the average person won’t know they had a better option to get a health guaranteed animal, from a good breeder who will provide them with lifetime of support. This is why it’s a flawed policy. Yeah, it gives everyone the warm fuzzies because they think they’re helping. But in reality? They’re actually doing the opposite. Ethical pet breeders do in fact limit the numbers of animals they produce to the number of good homes they can find. A policy making it harder for them to reach out and educate people, does limit the number of animals they can find homes for, so the policy does reduce the numbers from ethical breeders. But that means animals from the puppy mills will flood the market filling the gap left by ethical breeders. Puppy mill dogs will be the easiest for people to find, and the sketchy breeders don’t care where or how they sale an animal, as long as they make some money. So the policy is actually harming animals instead of helping. A better policy would be to exempt livestock completely from the ban and to allow pet sales from legitimate businesses with an actual business page. This would make more sense, and would allow people to continue to educate the general public on better animal welfare standards.
Facebook has allowed a minority of loudmouths to dictate their policies with no thought to the actual outcomes of said policy. And make no mistake, Facebook doesn’t actually care about the animals, they only care about whatever it takes to get the animal rights activists to stop making a fuss. And animal rights activists (not to be confused with animal welfare advocates who are actually the good guys) won’t be bothered by my post. Why? Because animal rights activists are clear in their belief that it’s better for an animal to be dead than “enslaved”. They are actively seeking the destruction of all domesticated animals, they’ve actually admitted it! They don’t even try to hide the fact they think a puppy is better off dead than living under the “tyranny” of a pet owner. Which makes it no surprise that the animal rights nuts will probably latch onto this post and start sending death threats my way. Because ironically death is kinda their thing. And not death for a purpose like feeding your family. Just death because they think it’s the best method to their end goal. They “free” domesticated livestock to die from exposure to the elements, predator attack, starvation, and vehicle accidents. They steal animals they have no idea how to care for, and then blame the farm they stole it from when the animal gets sick and dies. They talk about saving the animals, but all they actually seek is the death of the animals, and the deaths of anyone unafraid to oppose them. Facebook has allowed their policies to be dictated not based on the actual legalities of selling animals (I follow all my state laws), but by those with the loudest, most extreme opinion. The average person loves their pets and does in fact eat meat. It’s stupid to think the animal rights activists represent the majority of the population. They don’t. They just scream the loudest while they try to force their opinion on everyone else. So Facebook caves to shut them up.
This post is likely going to be deleted. This post will probably get me tossed back in Facebook jail, maybe even permanently this time. This post may actually even get my farm page shut down after five years of public outreach about sustainability and self sufficiency. This post most definitely will make me a target from the violent animal rights groups. However this post needed to be made, so I’m willing to risk all those things. It’s important for people to know how things work. It’s important for them to know where their food comes from. It’s important for them to know how policies that don’t necessarily effect them, impact the lives of the people and animals around them. It’s important for people to know what happens when a small minority, with extreme beliefs, is allowed to dictate policy for the majority. There are no warm fuzzies to be had from this post, just the absolute reality of raising livestock. When you can no longer sell livestock, you simply have more dead stock.
Kalyn Roberts
Elbon Mill Farm
*Full disclosure, I’m paying to boost this post in the hopes of getting it out to as many people as possible before Facebook pulls it. Putting my money where my big mouth is. A lot of people aren’t aware this policy even exists. If you’re a breeder or farmer tired of being censored for your life choice, please feel free to share. We are not outnumbered by the animal rights activists. We just all work too hard, and don’t actually have the free time to raise the fuss that they do, so nobody hears us. Maybe it’s time we all started hollering back...
