This report is part of a larger national survey covering 48 cities. National data will be submitted for publication this Fall (click on image to download pdf of report).

I have been perplexed by the argument made by angry vegan activists for the last few months. I am mostly at odds with the degree of outrage, violence, deceptive communication, intolerance and racism in the arguments made against raising and eating your own animals. It says something when these are the tactics that have to be employed to persuade.
 
My summer reading was a series of books pertaining to human animal relationships- Hal Herzog’s Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat; Temple Gandin’s Animals Make Us Human; and Irene Pepperberg’s Alex and Me. I’ve also been reading on compassion- a recent books are Rick Hanson’s, Buddha’s Brain and Psaris & Lyons’ Undefended Love.
 
I cannot reconcile the unreasoning fervor I encounter with these vegan folks. In fact, I love listening to TED and recently listened to Joan Halifax speak on compassion and the true meaning of empathy. A few nuggets of wisdom gained from that talk is that moral outrage is an enemy of compassion. People with deep and practiced compassion have the ability to empathize and return to their baseline calm readily, which is called resilience. Lastly, that compassion has a strong back and a soft front. It reflects our capacity to be open to the world with an undefended heart.
 
This practice goes well beyond sentimental compassion and goes deep into humanity- illness, loss, pain, poverty, despair…the human condition. Compassion is to love in these circumstances, even when those suffering are not ready to change the circumstance. That is compassion, true and hard. You cannot force internal change. You cannot force compassion. You can only practice it.
 
I am a true believer that our own practice in compassion can transform the world and that the world needs transforming with love. It has been a hard lesson to take in that anger, fear, pity and moral outrage does nothing but block the way.

The Grand Lake Ace Garden Center allowed the East Bay Urban Agriculture Alliance to use their site for a group feed order drop off. It went swimmingly. We got the best price in town on organic animal feed. The staff was super friendly and helpful. It made for a very rewarding community experience.

Also, thanks to the Urban Farm Hand, Jeanette, for all the help!

Jeanette by the way is an entrepreneur with a burgeoning Bay Area Urban Farm Sitting business. She is a wild life biologist with a variety of experience in an urban farming setting. She has worked with goats (mini and standard), rabbits, chickens, ducks, turkeys and horses, as well as dogs, cats, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and pet birds. She has limited experience with pigs, sheep, and cows, and a lot of experience with game species such as pheasants and quail. She also has over 2 years experience as a veterinary technician in a conventional practice and a holistic practice. She can be contacted at: brewmiss96 at gmail dot com.

Edible East Bay featured an article on the current Oakland zoning update process. It opens with the story of my crazy girl Annabelle. This rabbit has gotten increasingly more interesting to keep. She now wanders around the yard and is easy to corral back into her hutch. I rarely pick her up. I am not 100% if I will not attempt to breed her again as she does seem to have settled down. She also shows great interest in the buck’s cage. It is the first place she goes. I am thinking I’ll make a little access door to let her in if she is so inclined. Anabelle strikes me as a rabbit that will happily do rabbit things if they are on her terms.

Currently in Rabbitland I have expanded the male hutch to a shanty duplex and introduced a young buck to co-house with Virgl. They have taken quite well to each other. In the process, I have learned that rabbits are far more agile that I imagined as they have no problem hopping up and down a steep ladder in their housing. One day I will have the supplies and wherewithall to make it look pretty. For now, it works just fine.

To learn more about rabbits check out this great (and extensive) Daily Kos article in six parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.

If you are in the Bay Area and want to learn more, come out for a rabbit class at Biofuel Oasis on September 18th.

I’ll say it again. It appears growing and raising our food in cities is not so much a trend as a change in the way we are looking at our food system. A recent Los Angeles Times article covered some of the efforts going on across the Bay Area. In fact, the effort is across the U.S.with at least twenty-two large cities implementing ordinance to allow for and regulate livestock as well as growing food, and even selling it.
 
These cities are supportive because they see the extent to which growing food and raising animals is creating strong and healthy community. Keeping food producing animals is also providing profound education to youth. I recently read a Hal Herzog’s recent book and am reading Temple Grandin’s book, Animals Make Us Human. I am of the strong opinion that the more youth are exposed to animals, their behaviors and the care the better we can address the current problems we have with animals in urban areas. The most prevalent of these problems being in understanding and caring for dogs. Both of these books reveal horrifying but often unspoken truth is that U.S. animal shelters are overflowing with dogs, not with all the other animals people keep for pets or purpose, but dogs.
 
Luckily for livestock we have time-tested agencies, like the 4H program started in 1902. More locally, Alameda County has the Cooperative Extension Services, that have been studying how to safely and best grow food and raise livestock for decades.
 
It is admirable that these cities are empowering their populations to put their energy towards developing a better food system, to take care of themselves in such a frightening economic climate, and to seek creative entrepreneurship. It is even more so that these cities are doing this in a way that is respectful of the freedom of choice, rather than forcing dead end moral arguments on their populations. Now is not the time to restrict people’s ability to be self-sufficient. Because frankly people, we’ve got bigger problems (more on our national debt and beyond).

Sending some love to the Food Security Academy in New Orleans! They are the only food security academy in the nation. They currently employ 30 local teenagers to grow food and learn about the food system. Through meaningful employment and critical thinking skills, they are becoming leaders capable of reinvigorating their neighborhoods. They’ve been offered 2 acres for expansion across the street, which means more jobs, more beauty, and more fresh food for families, but they need to raise the money for seeds, soil, and hoop houses. Lets support them and help get the word out! Also, watch the video to the end, its so worth it.

Utne Reader just put out an excellent article on the grey area of human animal relationships, called Animals Like Us by Hal Herzog.
 
In this article Herzog explores the many contradictions in human animal relationships, even amongst the most black and white thinkers. What it mostly conveys is that there is no simple answer and judging others for their choice of relationship can quickly become fruitless and hypocritical.
 
I especially appreciated the detailed he provided in keeping cats as pets. I think about this as black and white thinking activists claim that keeping backyard animals as a food source will overburden our city services.
 
First, I’d like to point out that raising animals for food is and has been fully permissible in Oakland. What the city is working to do now is a policy update to put limits on this practice. This will actually mitigate cases that require city intervention. I would also expect, from results published in a 20 municipalities study, an overall decrease in complaints, as experienced by these cities once they created laws and limits with keeping backyard chickens.
 
I’d also like to point out that the current burden on city services, according to 2010 data from Oakland Animal Services, remains cats and dogs. The 2010 data reports only the first six months (January through end of May) but in that time, 1,626 dogs and 758 cats had received shelter services. Compare this to the 49 reported rabbits, 26 hens, 2 goats and 1 domestic duck. Also, reported is that 39% of those dogs and 29% of those cats were euthanized.  If it costs about ~$250 to hold, euthanize and dispose of an animal in most U.S. shelters, that’s $158,535 in six months on dogs alone. If we go ahead and double that as a possible total year expenditure, we get $317,070 on dogs and using the 6% euthanization rate listed for rabbits, $1,470 on rabbits.
 
As for the argument that Oakland is encouraging meat consumption by allowing people to raise their own healthy meat sources rather than buy factory farm meat, 1) it makes no sense to attack a community who is opposed to factory farming and 2) cats are strict carnivores. So, lets say we all worked together to find homes for those hundreds of abandoned cats, consider this:
 
“The pet-food shelves of [the] local supermarket are piled high with six-ounce tins of cow, sheep, chicken, horse, turkey, and fish. Even dried cat foods are advertised as containing ‘fresh meat.’ With about 94 million cats in America, the numbers add up. If each cat consumes just two ounces of meat daily, en masse they consume nearly 12 million pounds of flesh—the equivalent of 3 million chickens—every single day.”
 
Where is this meat sourced from? Factory farms.
 
It seems to me that with Oakland Animal Services so heavily burdened (and believe me, there is no doubt that they are feeling the budget cuts in Oakland) their efforts, and the efforts of their tireless volunteers, would be best focused on addressing proper dog and cat care than on prohibiting people to raise their own food. We would all do well to put energy toward changing factory farm practices.
 
For further reads, check out these articles on some of the issues faced by Oakland Animal Services, here and here.

A story just came out about rabbits being kept in horrible conditions. I suspect as the issue of keeping livestock in Oakland become more defined through community meetings and policy development, there will be more news about Animal Control doing busts, specifically on rabbits. The director of Oakland Animal Services is quoted saying “This blurs the lines for animal cruelty. When is it OK to raise something for food, and when is it cruelty?”
 
That’s a very good question. I’d say for those of us that eat meat, its ok to raise an animal for food when the conditions are humane and the animal has what it needs in its living space to be comfortable and healthy. Perhaps a more important question is, how do we know and best provide what they need?
 
What people need is educational resources. This applies not only to raising animals but to growing food in general. The public needs to know how to test soil, how to remediate soil, how to use soil amendments like manure without contamination, how to control pests without use of toxic pesticides. There will always be the case of ignorant choices made. However defining the best way to do something and educating folks on it is a great way to reduce, even eliminate, these cases.
 
Luckily Oakland has an abundance of willing people and resources to address this. Luckily, there are many large national cities that have made it legal to raise your own animals for food. These cities provide successful examples.
 
Where I cannot follow in this article is how the very valid concern for animal welfare gets interwoven into the debate about whether it is ok to eat meat. An advocate that believes rabbits are strictly companion animals says that they are companions in “our society.” This is not true at all. They are strictly companions in her culture, but not in many others. The U.S. is made up of many cultures, not any one. Also, those cities that have made raising animals for food legal allow rabbits. So, they must not have gotten that memo about “our society.” Oakland is proud of its diverse cultural heritages, which include food traditions. I hope they continue to preserve this unique aspect of the city.
 
This “our society” sentiment coupled with the belief that that gang violence can be mitigated if we all just stop eating meat, speaks volumes of the narrow cultural demographic of these advocates. It is extreme and unreasonable to expect people to give up their cultural practices and conform to such narrow beliefs. I am tired of this attitude that we need to shed our traditions to be righteous.

At the last tour we had at Pluck & Feather, it was pointed out to me over and over again that my hens were really quiet. I had not noticed but yes, my hens do not make much noise. My hens may cackle a bit when they lay eggs but its brief and its not distracting. I just hear a chicken, versus a dog barking, or a cat meowing or a bird chirping.

However, if my girls need something from me they will vocalize.The few times this has occurred, I poked my head out a house window so they see me which makes them stop. Then I go address whatever it is they need and, voila, no more noise.

So if your birds are making some noise they are talking to you. The easy to identify factors that may contribute to quiet hens are of course having food, water, snacks (they like variety), and enough space. I think one very special arrangement I have that helps my flock feel content is that nearly each side of their run is flanked by plants. The top is covered with a potato vine and the sides are covered by a pineapple sage, lavender, and nasturtium. If my hens are in fact quieter, I’d attribute it to the added sense of security.

The inside of the run feels very jungly and cozy.

The plants are also perfectly edible (the potato vine is nontoxic to chickens). So they feel shielded and have snacks poking through. If you have some noisy hens try creating a space that feels more protected for them.

Anabelle, the rabbit, is doing incredibly well. It is clear from the manner in which she bounds around that she is content in her space. It is also clear that after spending a couple of months not attempting to touch her but letting her approach me, she has gained a great deal more confidence. In fact, it is a near miracle that she now approaches me and wants to be stroked. She now lets me touch her whole body and check her ears. I am working on being able to check her paws and her teeth. This is a huge change from just two months ago when she seemed in a constant state of fear.

However, I have noticed that her behavior is still different than the other rabbits. Initially, I could not put my finger on it but she just didn’t have the same mannerisms. She also did not appear to look directly at me the way the others do. This got me thinking that maybe she has some sort of impairment. I began to note the differences in how the three rabbits respond to visuals and sounds. I am still trying to understanding visual acuity of a rabbit. I know their hearing is their primary organ and highly acute. This might be obviously from the exaggerated size of a rabbits ears.

As it turns out, Anabelle has some level of hearing impairment. She does not respond to noise. She shows no signs of infection or ear damage (no unusual head or eye movements). I think the darn rabbit is just deaf. So there it is. That explains why she would be so fearful, why her ability to care for her young would be compromised, and why so many normal rabbit behaviors have eluded her.

A friend asked if that meant I was going to eat her. No, it does not. 1) Anabelle is an adult and passed the age of eating. While i most certainly eat rabbit, I  would not eat any of my adults. 2) I don’t have market pressure to have highly productive females on hand. If this were a money making endeavor, this would be no place for her. I would have to find a home to adopt her. 3) She has had enough transition from East Coast to West Coast, around and then to my home.

Due to these factors, I have decided to keep her. We’ll see how things go with her mama instincts. I let her run around in the garden. She goes directly to Virgl’s pen. Perhaps her natural instincts are healthy and fine and she just needs things to be on her terms. I understand that.