Cruelty to animals: does nothing matter except the money?

The spectre of pigs cruelly farmed in "sow crates" has raised a storm of outrage in recent days.

But cruelty to animals in our society is nothing new and we should be ashamed of it, says Molly Anderson.

Cruelty has been around a very long time and in many forms.

Where animals are the victims, it is sometimes due to ignorance or neglect, but lately there have been some particularly sickening examples of individuals deliberately inflicting pain on animals for pleasure.

This is recognised as a crime.

But, incredibly, when it is organised and institutionalised and commercialised, the perception changes.

I hope there is a special place in hell for governments who allow baby calves to be penned from birth in narrow crates.

There they stand, bewildered, in the dark.

They never feel the sun on their backs, they can't even turn round for the whole of their short and dreadful lives.

But their flesh is sold at a high price to gourmet consumers who enjoy it young and tender and white.

France's famous pate de foie gras involves the force-feeding of geese to produce the grossly engorged livers from which the delicacy is made.

Cruel? Of course - but lucrative. We don't do that here. But we do buy the product.

And New Zealand has eagerly adopted factory farming of hens and pigs, completely ignoring our own Animal Welfare Act in the interests of profit.

We are also about to resume packing thousands of sheep into container ships bound for Saudi Arabia.

The survivors of this unspeakable journey will be ritually slaughtered for a religious festival.

Live animals for this purpose fetch a premium.

Cruelty inflicted on animals in the name of sport has also been around worldwide for centuries.

With the exception of bull-fighting, the very worst abuses have been successfully challenged, though they linger on shamefully in some countries.

Rodeos, an American import, are being enthusiastically promoted here.

They offer some entertaining riding events, but the real crowd pleasers are buck-jumping and bull-riding.

Rodeo followers apparently love watching the frantic contortions of large animals trying to escape the brutal pinch of the flank-strap.

They bring their children to enjoy the fun.