Thanks to Priscilla for the link to this great video about a small sheep and goat farm on Martha's Vineyard. The owner left her job in New York City and started her small operation from scratch, applying the CSA model (Community Supported Agriculture) to selling yarn. Customers buy a share of her fiber harvest at the beginning of the season and collect their yarn at the end of the season.
Here is a link to her web site. In the video below, pay close attention to the beautiful Maremma guard dogs she uses. An Italian breed that looks a lot like the other standard guard dogs, the Great Pyrenees, Maremma's are tenacious, loving, and loyal guards of the flocks they protect—and of their family-owners, especially children.
Note for reflection: A lot of vegans eschew using any animal products or by-products for human use. But in my evolving understanding of the symbiosis between human and non-human animals, I'm comfortable with the use of animal fibers (wool, alpaca, etc.) for human use as long, of course, as the animals are treated humanely like the animals in this video. A year of reading the Small Farmer's Journal, which deals mainly with the traditional use of horses, mules, oxen, etc., in small farm settings, has helped me understand that some of these domesticated animals seem to "enjoy," or derive a sense of pleasure from, "being worked" in a manner that honors their strength and intelligence (as in plowing, etc.). So much so that I donated funds last December for the purchase of two yokes of oxen (and two plows) to be furnished to two small-farm families in southeast Asia for the plowing of their fields, greatly enhancing their ability to raise plants for their families' sustenance. I can only hope the animals are used respectfully, though that's out of my hands. But I enjoy the Edenic vision of human and non-human animals working together, with human beings bearing the responsibility for godly dominion (servant leadership) over their fellow creatures.
Okay -- enjoy the video:
Here is a link to her web site. In the video below, pay close attention to the beautiful Maremma guard dogs she uses. An Italian breed that looks a lot like the other standard guard dogs, the Great Pyrenees, Maremma's are tenacious, loving, and loyal guards of the flocks they protect—and of their family-owners, especially children.
Note for reflection: A lot of vegans eschew using any animal products or by-products for human use. But in my evolving understanding of the symbiosis between human and non-human animals, I'm comfortable with the use of animal fibers (wool, alpaca, etc.) for human use as long, of course, as the animals are treated humanely like the animals in this video. A year of reading the Small Farmer's Journal, which deals mainly with the traditional use of horses, mules, oxen, etc., in small farm settings, has helped me understand that some of these domesticated animals seem to "enjoy," or derive a sense of pleasure from, "being worked" in a manner that honors their strength and intelligence (as in plowing, etc.). So much so that I donated funds last December for the purchase of two yokes of oxen (and two plows) to be furnished to two small-farm families in southeast Asia for the plowing of their fields, greatly enhancing their ability to raise plants for their families' sustenance. I can only hope the animals are used respectfully, though that's out of my hands. But I enjoy the Edenic vision of human and non-human animals working together, with human beings bearing the responsibility for godly dominion (servant leadership) over their fellow creatures.
Okay -- enjoy the video:
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