Shocked At Boots Pharmacy" Today

[BSJ]

One shark in the ocean is one to many. With them gone there will be an abundance of other tasty sea creatures for us humans!

[Heng]

Surely they'll be able to clone them eventually. Sure, they won't have as good a personality, "charm," and/or "grace," but I doubt anyone will notice.

[Flatouthruthefog]

One shark in the ocean is one to many. With them gone there will be an abundance of other tasty sea creatures for us humans!

Congratulations. You have just confirmed my point about 'attitude' 1,000%. That's if you are being serious, of course. For your own sake, I do hope not.

[Jingthing]

Global climate change is much more important. Don't we need to prioritize?

[ScubaBuddha]

Do you also close your eyes as you push your shopping cart past the seafood section at Foodland?

Do they sell sharks?

They sell fish. Or do they not deserve the sympathy you feel 'shark fish' do just because they don't look as cool?

Ah ok, I didn't get your connecting of meaningless shark slaughtering to fishing in general, (but then who would, your point makes no sense) Our concern over sharks is due to the fact they are disappearing from our oceans at an alarming rate, not because they "look cool."

Actually, to be honest, I almost never eat seafood. Initially because most I don't like, but more receantly since I have begaun to understand the gravity of the over fishing problem, (and other human created issues causing fishing populations to decline drastically worldwide) and that greed and money drives the fishing practices, not sustainability, I really avoid seafood almost entirely.

[ScubaBuddha]

What is the difference between catching shark to eat, than catching mullet, mackerel or cod - incedently Boots sell fish oil pills as well....

That's a good point Soundamn makes, overfishing in general is out of control. (I know you weren't saying that but I will pretend) Sharks are top tier predators, and thier are fewer of them. There absence in the food chain can, and will, have greater effect on the food chain and cycle of life in the oceans. Their are laws concerning shark fishing all over the world, but they are largley ignored because the money is to great and the risks to little.

The challenge environmentalists (and we all need this planet to survive, so we should all be environmentalists) will always have is overcoming the feeling by so many people out there that simply don't see human caused species extinction as a bad thing. The millions of years of evolution needed to create these majestic creatures, (all creatures) simply ceases. Call it "manifest destiny lite" Very sad.

More info on the shark cartilage scam:

http://www.nautilusproductions.com/sandtigersharks/scam.html

http://www.healthwatcher.net/Quackerywatch/Shark-cartilage/

[Heng]

Ah ok, I didn't get your connecting of meaningless shark slaughtering to fishing in general, (but then who would, your point makes no sense) Our concern over sharks is due to the fact they are disappearing from our oceans at an alarming rate, not because they "look cool."

Actually, to be honest, I almost never eat seafood. Initially because most I don't like, but more receantly since I have begaun to understand the gravity of the over fishing problem, (and other human created issues causing fishing populations to decline drastically worldwide) and that greed and money drives the fishing practices, not sustainability, I really avoid seafood almost entirely.

Well, I think anyone who could connect seafood section to fish got it... perhaps you were thinking of crabs or shrimp.

I too would be concerned over the world's food sources being depleted, I just don't agree with the line of thinking that they should be kept around to look at.... for instance if getting rid of all of the top tier food chain predators (other than human kind of course) would cause a boom in the population of the lower tier basic food fish, I'd be all for it.

[j_mack]

I seem to remember reading Shark numbers are at an all time low and they may become an endangered species soon.

I stopped eating Shark as a result.

Correct me if I am wrong....

I was brought up in Adelaide South Oz, and Shark was called Whiting and Flake. makes a nice Fish'n chips, no problem there! much prefer it to Barra a much overrated fish

[KunMatt]

If that shocked you then when in the UK make sure not to wander down the supplements aisle of Tesco, Asda, Waitrose, Sainsburys or any other super market or pharmacy as they're sold in every store.

I don't agree with the hunting of sharks either, don't eat sharks fin soup, and doubt whether the cartilage supplements have any benefits at all, but seriously, is this the first time you've been allowed out of the house alone?

LOL! Very well said.

I don't know what's funnier, the OP's complete over-reaction or every other member's total under-reaction to this!

This is just typical knee jerk reaction tactics, you saw a product in a shop today which has probably been sold for many years and think that making a song and dance about it will change the world. I doubt very much that producing these placebos is having any effect on the shark population as they will be made from the left-overs of all the sharks killed for their fins for Chinese Shark Fin soup, which is a very real and serious problem. I've seen several Shark Fin Soup restaurants in Thailand this year alone so I doubt your campain against these tablets is going to make any difference (Nam Sing restaurant in Pattaya for example).

The messed up thing is that Shark's Fin is tasteless and adds nothing to the soup as an ingredient, it's just all about the culture of eating shark. So, that said, I doubt very much that anybody here regularly eats or takes any shark product so you're chastising the wrong group for their warranted appathy on the subject.

Direct all of this energy in activism to the right people (i.e. the Japanese and Tawainese shark hunters, or even the restaurants selling them) and you might get somewhere.

[LooseCannon]

........

You are not quite correct when you say that sharks are not part of conservation efforts. Some shark species (the endangered species) are protected. For example, even the man-eating great white is protected in South Africa and Australia.

I don't know about S.Africa but in Australia if a shark (& especially a Great White) attacks a human it is hunted down & killed.

Yes hunted by a minority of idiots

But not supported at all by the majority of Aussies

You enter into there world, you be prepared. A surfer friend of mine was attacked and almost lost his leg, he couldnt believe it when a group of people talked about hunting down the shark. And he still surfs the same beach today

Not sure where you get your statistics from, but with the knee jerk reaction of the media egging on the 'hunt' with the full participation & encouragement of local authorities, I think your average Aussies don't give a <deleted>. Helicopters flying over the sea with the shadowy outline of sharks below make for great entertainment.

If I take a stroll across the African savannah I recognise that the lion is at the top of the food chain, in the ocean the shark is king, & see no reason to kill them when I intrude.

Of course when attacked I would feel obliged to kill them with my bare hands.

[Jimjim]

What is the difference between catching shark to eat, than catching mullet, mackerel or cod - incedently Boots sell fish oil pills as well....

Because many sharks are endangered species, that's why. Make sense now?

[highchol]

"I was in my local branch of Boots "Pharmacy" today and noticed that in amongst the vitamin and mineral supplements section were bottles of SHARK CARTILAGE capsules"

Some of my knee cartilage is also in a jar....but on some medical students shelf.

[h90]

It's amusing when people decide which animals they will eat based on some seemingly random criteria like the cuteness of whichever critter is going in the oven.

So it's ok to eat cows, chickens, pigs, ducks, etc, etc but if anyone tries to eat a Hippo you have all sorts of loonies coming out of the woodwork.

there is no farming for sharks and they are almost extinguished. That makes the difference.

[krading]

Global climate change is much more important. Don't we need to prioritize?

I agree with Jingthing. Sharks are cold blooded creatures so removing them from the oceans will further add to global warming.

(and I turned off the Panda Channel to read this??)

[h90]

Do you also close your eyes as you push your shopping cart past the seafood section at Foodland?

Do they sell sharks?

I read a while ago that Lotus offer shark fins in Thailand. I read that in Europe, but I did not verify it personally.

[Petesear]

One shark in the ocean is one to many. With them gone there will be an abundance of other tasty sea creatures for us humans!

No there won't. Sharks are at the top of the oceans food chain and their extinction would also mean the extinction of many other sea creatures. You could probably say goodbye to lobster, as this is a favourite food stuff of octopodes(octopuses). Obviously the 'knock on' effect of removing the top predator is huge.

[Heng]

But not always negative (contrary to much environmentalist spin).

[TheJoker12]

There is no scientific evidence that shark cartilage supplements actually do anything. I think its important to preserve the Earth's species, especially when there is not even a benefit to killing them.

[TheJoker12]

Btw, this is Thailand, it was probably Tuna Cartilage or powdered sugar or saw dust inside.

[tom21]

i like eating shark it tastes very good.

[TheJoker12]

i don't mind people eating them although i dont think you should be allowed to eat the breeds that are endangered but i dont think these companies should be allowed to decimate an animal population under the guise that their cartilage actually does anything. can't they just sell the idiots powdered sugar pills and tell them it will prevent cancer and grow their penis at the same time? then the sharks can live, the suckers get trimmed and everyone is happy.

[Gary A]

If there is a market, the product will be supplied. Boots obviously wouldn't stock a product that doesn't sell. There are many ridiculous products in demand. Rhino horn, cobra blood, bear bile, tiger penis, other tiger and bear parts. Live bears living in a cage where they can't move with a tube stuck inside them to harvest the bile HAS to be at the top of th cruelty list.

That said, stay away from Issan when the Thai boys get drunk and slaughter a beef or buffalo. That WILL make you sick. I won't go into detail but they cut the throat and catch the blood in a bucket while the animal is still standing and bleating.

With all this going on, I can't get too excited over shark bones. Yes, shark bone is cartilage. Shark fins are another thing.

[bino]

or to use a domestic example, cutting off the legs of a beef-cow and leaving it on the ground to die.

You mean that isn't that the right way to make ground beef ??

Maybe you should get on the horn to McDonalds and protest the amount of ground beef they sell.

[chiangmaikelly]

or to use a domestic example, cutting off the legs of a beef-cow and leaving it on the ground to die.

You mean that isn't that the right way to make ground beef ??

Maybe you should get on the horn to McDonalds and protest the amount of ground beef they sell.

Most cows slaughtered for ground beef in the US are old dairy cows no longer able to produce milk. They are chained by one hoof and fed into a production line where a guy pops them in the head with a hammer like thing whick kills the brain. Then they haul them up by the foot and stick a tube in the animal and the still beating heart pumps out the blood which is sold. If the cow is pregnant a long hollow rod is inserted into the calf and that blood is sold the the medical profession for research into cancer. At least that's how they did it when I worked in the industry a few years ago. In the really good meat packing plants they go from live cow to chilled burger in 20 minutes. Very little time for bacteria to grow. At the end of the day there is nothing left. No waste. Even the poop is sold to fertilizer companies.

[Pib]

Boots "Pharmacy?" A pharmacy is where they primarily focus on prescriptions/doctor-recommended medications/real medicines. To me Boot's is more of a cosmetics/vitamins/herbs (latest hot selling product thing) store than a real pharmacy; Boot's is pretty much inline with the Lotus, Big C, etc., pharmacy sections.

[spongeman]

If there is a market, the product will be supplied. Boots obviously wouldn't stock a product that doesn't sell. There are many ridiculous products in demand. Rhino horn, cobra blood, bear bile, tiger penis, other tiger and bear parts. Live bears living in a cage where they can't move with a tube stuck inside them to harvest the bile HAS to be at the top of th cruelty list.

That said, stay away from Issan when the Thai boys get drunk and slaughter a beef or buffalo. That WILL make you sick. I won't go into detail but they cut the throat and catch the blood in a bucket while the animal is still standing and bleating.

With all this going on, I can't get too excited over shark bones. Yes, shark bone is cartilage. Shark fins are another thing.

That reminds me of my wedding in Loei. Day before van pulls up. Surely not more booze ? 4 guys starting pulling a pig out. That pig knew where it was heading.

Sliced and diced in the back. Nice pork curry though.

PS I like shark fin soup......yum yum

[spongeman]

If there is a market, the product will be supplied. Boots obviously wouldn't stock a product that doesn't sell. There are many ridiculous products in demand. Rhino horn, cobra blood, bear bile, tiger penis, other tiger and bear parts. Live bears living in a cage where they can't move with a tube stuck inside them to harvest the bile HAS to be at the top of th cruelty list.

That said, stay away from Issan when the Thai boys get drunk and slaughter a beef or buffalo. That WILL make you sick. I won't go into detail but they cut the throat and catch the blood in a bucket while the animal is still standing and bleating.

With all this going on, I can't get too excited over shark bones. Yes, shark bone is cartilage. Shark fins are another thing.

That reminds me of my wedding in Loei. Day before van pulls up. Surely not more booze ? 4 guys starting pulling a pig out. That pig knew where it was heading.

Sliced and diced in the back. Nice pork curry though.

PS I like shark fin soup......yum yum

[spongeman]

If there is a market, the product will be supplied. Boots obviously wouldn't stock a product that doesn't sell. There are many ridiculous products in demand. Rhino horn, cobra blood, bear bile, tiger penis, other tiger and bear parts. Live bears living in a cage where they can't move with a tube stuck inside them to harvest the bile HAS to be at the top of th cruelty list.

That said, stay away from Issan when the Thai boys get drunk and slaughter a beef or buffalo. That WILL make you sick. I won't go into detail but they cut the throat and catch the blood in a bucket while the animal is still standing and bleating.

With all this going on, I can't get too excited over shark bones. Yes, shark bone is cartilage. Shark fins are another thing.

That reminds me of my wedding in Loei. Day before van pulls up. Surely not more booze ? 4 guys starting pulling a pig out. That pig knew where it was heading.

Sliced and diced in the back. Nice pork curry though.

PS I like shark fin soup......yum yum

Whoops sorry double post.

[LuckyLew]

What is the difference between catching shark to eat, than catching mullet, mackerel or cod - incedently Boots sell fish oil pills as well....

The problems are many!

First, as a purely practical matter, shark populations are being depleted in many of the oceans of the world. For this environmental reason alone, sharks should not be caught for human food or medicinal consumption. There are likely to be unforeseen consequences on the oceanic food chain when the numbers of an apex predator like sharks are removed from the environment.

In addition, being a non-farmed fish species, it would be very easy for shark populations to be essentially eliminated (go extinct) from human over-fishing. On moral grounds alone, I believe most people would be against the fishing and consumption of shark for this reason as well.

Finally, the method of fishing for sharks is cruel in the extreme. Most of the demand for sharks is for their fins only (the market for shark meat itself, internal organs, or the skin is very small by comparison). Therefore, most sharks are "finned (fins cut off)" on board the boat while still alive and then tossed back into the ocean, to die a slow and painful death (or be attacked by other predators). This method of "hunting" would be equivalent to netting a deer and subduing it and then cutting off its legs and then just leaving it there to die; or to use a domestic example, cutting off the legs of a beef-cow and leaving it on the ground to die.

As for some mentioning cod (or fish) liver oils being sold as well, yes, there are serious environmental consequences to this as well...as the greatly diminished cod stocks in northern Europe attest to. At least conservation and sustainable fishing management plans can be and are in effect for this and other fish species. Unfortunately, this is not the case for sharks. In addition, at least the case can be made that in the case of cod, the whole fish is consumed so that at least there is little waste.

Are you a vegetarian?

After this rant you had better be!!!

How do KFC raise their chickens?

If this species is not strong enough to survive so be it

Law of the jungle