Man and Beast With Martin Clunes review – wrestling with bears, and carnivore conscience

Meat-eating animal-lover Clunes gets knee-deep in cow dung and goes on a bear hunt in his global quest to resolve his muddled ethicsMartin Clunes loves animals, has loads of them at home in Dorset. He also sends some of them – such as his male Dexter cattle (little ones, basically bonsai cows) – to the slaughterhouse. And it’s got him in a bit of a muddle. So he’s off round the world to explore man’s ancient and complicated relationship with animals. Man and Beast With Martin Clunes (ITV) it’s called.He starts in Nepal (pre-earthquakes), where cows are sacred and aren’t eaten, and provide just about everything. They supply milk, of course, and associated dairy products. Also their dung is used to produce gas. And their urine for insecticide. So Martin gets to collect the cowshit, water it down and stir it up in what looks like a butter churn. Then he stands behind a row of holy pissers, with a cow potty, waiting for a divine bovine golden shower (glamorous world, show business, no?). It’s a guessing game, because he doesn’t know who is going to go first, so he needs to be on his toes. The wee, when it finally comes, gets sprayed on the courgettes. Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Television Culture & radio Animal behaviour Biology Science Animal welfare Animals World news Source Type: news