I totally agree with that.

Posted by: Allison B. | May 18, 2009 06:47 PM

I for one watched every episode of 'Survivor' this season. From the very first show, I immediately fell for this good looking, southern rancher.
When you said that "cattle ranching is directly connected to cruelty to animals," honestly, it made me laugh! How could you be so ignorant to think such things? God gave us these animals to raise and eat for human consumption, not just to look at.
And isn't it kind of extreme to say that this young man "makes ends meet by exploiting cows?" Someone has to do the job. Have you ever had to do this demanding job of working on a farm and tending and caring for animals? I have, and its not a walk in the park, but like i said, some one has to do it. I don't care what you say, but this is a young man, true to his word and is most definitely what you call a "nice guy" and honestly, this world could use more J.T.'s.

Posted by: Lydia Hartzler | May 18, 2009 07:59 PM

Couldn't agree more, Liz, JT let your cattle retire. A real nice guy would do that.

Posted by: lynda downie | May 18, 2009 10:43 PM

Is it that you can't believe cattle farmers can be in fact nice people?
I know you don't want to believe it so you can perpetuate the idea that livestock farming is cruel.

What could be closer to a natural existence for cattle than roaming the wide open plains, albeit with some fences.

Posted by: rojo oz | May 19, 2009 01:15 AM

Wow.. you people just LOVE making wild acusations dont you... I know many cattle ranchers being raised on a ranch myself who would give you the shirt off there back at the speed of light.. And your whole cattle ranchers cause disese and distruction to enviroment is laughable your citys streching farther and farther into open land is ruining the enviroment.. not the ranchers who want to preserve the land and keep your starbucks and office building at bay....

Posted by: sarah | May 19, 2009 03:06 AM

Livestock farming is terribly cruel and destroying this planet. Study after study has verified that these terrible farms damage our planet more than our cars.

I wish that people would stop labeling veggies as latte-drinking upper class yuppies. This is not a class war, and many of us veggies cannot afford Starbucks and do not work in office buildings.

I am also tired of people manipulating religion to justify their self-centered notions that the world revolves around them, and therefore, their taste buds.

Posted by: Kim | May 19, 2009 09:11 AM

I wish people wouldn't label us as Starbuck's obsessed yuppies! But look at the article: just because JT does something we don't agree with the article is calling him a sneaky, tricky guy who is no good. I mean come on! You don't even really know him. The door swings both ways, people.

Posted by: Annabelle | May 19, 2009 09:46 AM

WHY DID YOU ANNOUNCE THE WINNER IN THE TITLE! I HAVENT WATCHED THE FINALE YET AND HAVENT READ NEWS ABOUT IT AND YOU DIDNT EVEN GIVE A SPOILER WARNING!
I AM SOOOOOOOOOOO ANNOYED RIGHT NOW, I HAVE BEEN WATCHING THIS SEASON SO CLOSELY AND HAVE BEEN SO EXCITED ABOUT IT AND NOW IT IS ALLLLL RUINED!
I love looking at the Peta site for updates and info, did not expect to have my survivor experience ruined :(
Thanks....

Posted by: nish | May 19, 2009 10:30 AM

In a contest as to what is the most destructive to the environment- Urban Sprawl or raising livestock, I would say it's urban sprawl. (And by the way, why aren't all of you upset about the petroleum used to make the synthetic fabrics you tout as a better alternative? That's none to good for the environment either)

Posted by: Tom | May 19, 2009 11:19 AM

Anyone who chooses to make a living off of the immense suffering of animals is indeed cruel.

The "charm" and superficial niceness is a cultural behavior (even someone as evil as George Bush can exude such a personality) and does not reflect genuine kindness.

Posted by: Brad | May 19, 2009 11:50 AM

I never really understood the whole "animals were put here for humans..." discussion. Non-humans animals have lived on this Earth millions of years before humans ever did.

Bottom line, cattle ranching is cruel.

Posted by: Michele | May 19, 2009 12:18 PM

Factory farming is cruel and has been proven so. Cattle ranching is cruel as well, but nothing is as cruel as laboratories and factory farms. My hope is the the cattle rancher is not as cruel as those folks run run factory farms. Getting bumped off is not exactly a humane way to go. I would not be too keen to have someone take care of me and then oen fine day I get a bullet. Actually doing that to someone is quite disingenuous. How is the ow "processed"? hmmm

Posted by: v | May 19, 2009 01:35 PM

i Have a few replys..

Brad..bush is the devil himself.. im not a bush fan..
but to say that just becuse this kids a rancher hes fake im sorry but i Have never been Fake I will drop everything to help a friend ans a stranger my parents tought me kindness twords people and ANIMALS even our food animals.

KiM.. as the poster below you said the door swings both ways you lable us as toothless uneducated animal abuseing country folk.. when alot of us have college eduactions and it takes brains to run a ranch you have to be good with finaces, schedules ETC

And tom you are 100% right!

Posted by: sarah | May 19, 2009 02:18 PM

I am saddened that someone who promotes animal cruelty could be rewarded on national television, what kind of example does that set?.. very sad indeed.

Posted by: Dev | May 19, 2009 02:19 PM

I stopped watching Survivor for two reasons. First, the person I wanted to win, never did and second because the so called survivors who had a camera crew following them everywhere and if someone got hurt they could be airlifted out if need be, and these so called survivors killed a lot of animals mostly fish, for food. They were never in a life or death situation. The last Survior that I watched was the one when they were in China, a country with no animal rights, and a country that skins dogs alive for fur. That was my last Survivor. If they ban killing animals for food on this show, I just may watch again but I dont like seeing animals killed for no reason. If they are starving to death they can eat some of the vegetation. Survivor used to give them chickens to slaughter and I remember in the Australian installation some guy who killed a cute little pig. So I have washed my hands of this show. By the way I read that Ethan Zohn, the winner of Survivor Africa in season 3 was diagnosed with cancer.

Posted by: Rex's Mom | May 19, 2009 02:33 PM

C'mon guys - he just won a game. Quit putting your little politics into it because he's a cattle rancher.

I don't think any of you get that in order to keep a balance in ecology, some animals must be eaten for food. Overfishing and too much slaughter? - yeah I see your point. But, watch any footage of India and you see people starving. It's a place that believes in reincarnation and won't kill an animal because they're afraid it might be family. And, they don't have as much grain/veggies to eat as they could (humans) because the cattle and other animals have to eat it too.

And - you get diseases from alive animals as well as dead. Seriously - your arguments get weaker and weaker when you actually read the whole story.

Posted by: mel | May 19, 2009 03:00 PM

Allison B....God gave us these animals to eat?....what a typically ignorant statement form an obviously ignorant hick. If you believe in what the bible says, animals were put here as companions and not for food. according to the scripture,it wasnt until sin entered the world, that humans were ALLOWED by God to eat animals..in order to purposely shorten our life spans. This being part of the punishment for sin. Uneducated people like you make me sick. Its because of people like you that theres cruelty in the world

Posted by: Kristian Paxton | May 19, 2009 03:52 PM

actually my comment was related to Lydia. The problem with this world is people like her. Stupid, ignorant, selfish, greedy, complacent, cruel, cold hearted people. I only hope that eventually the majority of the population will evolve further.

Posted by: kristian paxton | May 19, 2009 04:02 PM

It always surprises me that people who support the factory farming industry continually come to this site to post their nonsense.

Posted by: Tasha | May 19, 2009 04:35 PM

I hate to be the guy who throws facts into this, but your link either addresses slaughter practices (which are a separate division) or ranching methods outlawed by even the most lax of state cattle regulations.

Posted by: This Guy | May 19, 2009 07:05 PM

I don't know which India you have seen in pictures but when I was there I didn't see fat and well feed animals. You would see piles of trash with children looking for food as well as dogs, goats and cows. They would just be searching the trash wandering the street and they were skin and bones. It is a horrible environment to grow food and people and animals alike are suffering. I am a vegetarian but people are very ignorant to think that the cows you have on your plate are romping around on a green grassy hillside and killed without suffering. Animals were here long before us and we started off by eating fruits and veggies. Animals were killed for food as a last ditch effort for survival or a delicacy. We have since abused the power we have over animals and are mass producing them to feed our glutton needs.

Posted by: brandy | May 19, 2009 07:10 PM

Kristian Paxton, if you're going to insult someone, it is generally a good idea to make sure that you are actually insulting the person you wanted to insult before mindlessly slamming on the keyboard and hitting post. And calling her a ‘hick’ really carries less weight when there are spelling mistakes in the sentence accusing her.

Thanks for Posting.

Posted by: Alex | May 19, 2009 08:18 PM

The meek will inherit the earth. Cows are meek and cattle farmers are murderous.

Posted by: Brien Comerford | May 19, 2009 08:30 PM

tasha, it's because people like you have such vague generalisations about what factory farming really is. there is nothing wrong with educating those who know no better.

How you see cattle roaming the Texas plains, albeit within fences, as being different(and thus cruel) from their ancestors roaming the same type of country is beyond me. Nowadays these cattle are free from predation, have access to vetenary care and do not want for food and water. Much better existence than nature provides.

Posted by: rojo oz | May 20, 2009 04:02 AM

I was wondering why I've been having so much trouble lately spreading the world about PETA and why animals should have rights. But now I'm glad I found my reason. Anyone who comes to these boards looking maybe to get invovled instead find of bunch of bickering, name calling, hate spreading people. "what a typically ignorant statement form an obviously ignorant hick." "The problem with this world is people like her. Stupid, ignorant, selfish, greedy, complacent, cruel, cold hearted people."

Obviously, people who eat meat and have different opinions on how to treat animals are going to stick around and actually listen to what we have to say when their being slammed. Take the high road people! No one will ever take the gentle treatment of animals seriously, if you can't manage to do it towards your fellow man!

Posted by: Ever | May 20, 2009 07:56 AM

SARAH - You're the person making assumptions. What makes you think that I'm not from the country? What makes you think that I am well educated? When did I say that it didn't take brains or education to run a cattle business?

Posted by: Kim | May 20, 2009 08:49 AM

Uneducated people like you make me sick. Its because of people like you that theres cruelty in the world
Posted by: Kristian Paxton | May 19, 2009 03:52 PM

Kristian,
If the "noncruel" people are anyting like you, with your hateful speech, quick-to-judge, condescending and all around rude attitude, then I will stay a "ingnorant hick." At least that way I can be happy and treat my neighbors with respect.

Posted by: Kurt K | May 20, 2009 11:10 AM

Brandy, two points I want to make clear about my comments:

1. My point is that we have people starving in India while there is a food source around them. They refuse to kill animals because they're afraid they're a relative. Therefore, they starve. A lot of people say "Feed the children around the world" but say "protect the animals" in the same breath. I admit both are worthy causes to a point, but there has to be a balance.

2. As far as ranching - most cattle are able to roam free (well, with fence boundaries), and eat grass. It's usually places where cattle are shipped or slaughterhouses themselves - where the animal is there to die and be processed - that can be a bit dirty. Even there, they are cleaner than PETA would like people to think.

Posted by: mel | May 20, 2009 01:16 PM

No.

You went TOO far. JT rocks. He FLIPPIN rocks! Don't EVEN try to knock him. Just don't EVEN go there!

Posted by: Paintmare06 | May 20, 2009 03:01 PM

WE ARE HAPPY THAT A BLUE COLLAR,HARD WORKING AMERICAN WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE DESERVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Sally Joe | May 20, 2009 03:26 PM

Maybe this article is being taken too seriously. It's one thing to have an opinion and to debate it, but this is a bit much.
In all honesty, PETA has done a wonderful job with this entry, whether those for cattle-ranching or against cattle-ranching know it. Whether you love it or hate it, you're thinking about it. You're all arguing about this issue and are apparently getting right into it. PETA has you all talking about animal rights, which is most likely exactly what they wanted.

Posted by: Megan | May 20, 2009 03:43 PM

Megan, you have hit the nail on the head. It is all about discussion, about freedom of choice and invariably making the lives animals we use for food better.
No farmer worthy of the profession neglects their animals, but sometimes they do need some different perspectives on what welfare truly is. We do need to respect the animals that die on our behalf and treat them accordingly.

Statemnets like "cattle farmers are murderous" are simply juvenile and do nothing but polarise debate. Incidently as pointed out by mel the killing is done off farm, not by the farmer. A farmers job is to raise those cattle and sell them for his/her living. Anyone is free to buy them.

Posted by: rojo | May 20, 2009 09:07 PM

I come from a family with a very long history of cattle ranching. I can tell you that my relatives (grandfather and uncles) who ran the family "business" were all like Jeckle & Hyde.

In public, they were as nice and as charming as anything.

But at home, on the ranch, it was another story. Very cold. They would go from simply being cold one minute, to out and out violent the next: killing and brutalizing the cattle (and other animals).

If anybody made the mistake
of distracting them, or interupted them, they would immediately turn vicious on them (the humans), as well. God forbid if you ever questioned their tactics or the family "business".

Cattle ranching is an inherently violent "business". Anywhere else, these people would be looked as psychopaths. Yeah, I said it -- and I apply it to my relatives who were so barbaric and to any others who do the same.

Posted by: Barbara | May 20, 2009 10:04 PM

Barbara,
That may be your experience, but I also lived in a farming community and knew many dairy, pig and cattle farmers. Its all a matter of perspective. What you think of as vicious and violent may be normal to the farmer.
I watched surgery performed on a dariy cow in a barn when I was in high school, my friend and I video taped it for our biology class. The farmer paid alot of money to keep that cow alive. Does that seem like a violent man? You have to understand that cows have a much higher tollerance of pain and infection than we humans. What is painful to you, is nothing to a cow. They are very tough creatures.

Posted by: Kurt K | May 21, 2009 11:31 AM

barbara, so because your farming family is violent every farming family is?

You have issues with the family more than their occupation by the sounds of it.

Posted by: rojo | May 22, 2009 02:38 AM

Anybody who is in the business of livestock is violent.

The only end for livestock is a violent one. So yes, my relatives were violent and anybody who kills animals is violent.

As for farmers "paying a lot of money to keep one of their animals alive" ... well, the animals, dairy cows esp. are worth more alive than dead. That farmer saw the cow as a commodity. It's that simple. He hoped to keep her producing for him for as many years as possible, before either slaughtering her himself, or sending her elsewhere to die a violent death.

Posted by: Barbara | May 22, 2009 01:38 PM

I'm glad there's people like you on this earth, Barbara.

Posted by: lynda downie | May 23, 2009 12:27 AM

Animals were never put her by God for us to eat. Period.

That is a LIE FROM HELL.

Genisis 1:29 tells us what God gave us to eat. The Bible also tells us the what the devil gave us to eat. It is called THE TABLE OF SATAN.

If you IGNORANT HICKS want to come on this website and defend yours difilations and bloodthusty sins against God and Nature you best leave God out you DAMN FOOLS.

I pray to God you eat those words. You stupid RELIGIOUSLY COFUSED FOOLS.

And how dare you presume that the compassionate, loving GOD FEARING people who inhabit this website don't know the hard work of caring for animals. WHO THE HECK DO THINK IS LEFT CLEANING UP YOUR GODLESS MESS.

GOD WILL DESTROY THOSE DESTROYING THE EARTH.

And the NUMBER ONE guilty party is the ANIMAL AGRICULTURE BUSINESS.

Posted by: Saucy | May 26, 2009 08:50 AM

Saucy, you interpret your Bible the way you want, and I will interpret it the way I want.
I've been to church thousands of times and I have never once heard my priest tell me its a sin to eat animals.
Sorry, but my faith is my faith. Nothing you say or threaten me with will change my beliefs.

Posted by: Kurt K | May 26, 2009 12:56 PM

Genesis 9:3
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

Posted by: Logan | May 27, 2009 09:56 PM

Hmm, sometimes I don't know what to say. As a scientist I know humans were designed to eat meat (and plants). But I also know the only reason we get huge farms that are too large to remain humane, is because we use the product.. Don't eat as much meat, or raising your own is the only way to go.

Posted by: Ryan | July 7, 2009 11:23 PM

Well Megan I just hope that even more people talk about animal rights so maybe we'd all CARE ABOUT THINGS OTHER THAN OURSELVES and the world would be a much better place for billions of animals because when everybody joins they make a difference and right now we need to make a big difference on the lives of animals and PETA doesn't just want you to talk it wants us to act too

Posted by: Sam | July 31, 2009 08:55 PM

ocelots r endangred dude, and therre si a spoiler!
thanx alot!

Posted by: jyp neekon | October 2, 2009 08:25 PM

the meat industry is the biggest killer of the planet causing starvation because the greedy farmers buy the grain from third world countries where people are starving close by, meat is the biggest cause of heart disease, bowel and colon cancersand stroke, animals were not put on the earth for us.as in england 6 million vegitarins and one million vegans are living proof,people eat meat because they like the the taste, you do not need meat in your body, meat eaters eat it for selfish reasons and give no thought to the execution of animals that have feelings andfeel pain , i have a clear conscience and to those who say they have, everytime you put beef in your mouth think of the people who are starving, and if you say you have a clear conscince, i say you are heartless and no matter how good looking or sexy jt thomas is he is NOT a very bright boy helping to destroy the next generations future, and anyone who thinks differently isn,t very bright either, and to anyone feeds their children beef your a total numbskull

Posted by: anne westerman England | October 4, 2009 01:00 PM

Your comment has been received and held for approval by the blog owner.

Wow, we wouldn't want to promote free speach and a different opinion. Your web site is truly evil.

Posted by: Martin T. Smith | November 14, 2009 02:03 AM