Cruel to Animals, Cruel to People, Cruel to the World – IV
Section IV – Animal Cruelty
All of these issues are profound, but one that has always rested heavily upon the hearts of many vegetarians, even before global warming or E. Coli were discovered, was that of animal rights. Maybe if they had tears, people would care more, pay more attention. But the truth is, they do have tears – people are just too blind to see them. Recent studies show that elephants demonstrate signs of empathy, but one has to wonder, are humans losing their own grasp on empathy? Every year 15,000,000,000 land animals are brutally slaughtered for food. Ten times the amount of intentionally caught fish are killed in fishermen’s nets accidentally, including thousands of dolphins. “So what?” you might say. “Animals are lower on the food chain, less intelligent, and weaker.” Perhaps, but if that is the case, why do we not feed on the flesh of infants, mentally ill, or debilitated humans? Though animals are less intelligent, most truly underestimate the intelligence of their dinners. Leading animal behaviorists all around the globe tell us about new studies that show chickens have abilities some more advanced than those of cats, dogs, and some primates. Even pigs are smarter than most 3 year old children, and are often compared to dogs by behaviorists because they are so friendly and loyal. Most Americans mourn over lost pets, but do not think twice about sitting down to a steak dinner.
In some countries, dog meat is considered common. Most Americans recoil at the idea of eating dog, but they have no problem eating other meats because do not see those animals as individuals. How would you feel about sitting down to a nice plate of Fido?
They say that if slaughterhouses had windows, no one would eat meat.
The traveling and living conditions and slaughter process are all grotesque, but the living conditions of animals being prepared for slaughter are almost vile enough to make death seem welcome. Modern animal food farmers use growth hormones and artificial lighting, which results in chickens and other poultry that outgrow their internal structure, resulting in crippled or broken legs and necks. 95% of poultry suffer injuries before being killed, 30% suffer broken bones. Cattle on feedlots are fed unnatural diets to fatten them up as quickly as possible. These diets cause numerous problems for their digestive systems and other organs leading to a great deal of pain. Food animals are given numerous amounts of drugs to keep them alive in conditions they would not normally be able to survive. The air wreaks of ammonia and feces. Chickens raised for meat, live in filthy sheds, along with tens of thousands of other birds. Such extreme crowding quickly leads to spreading diseases.
Food animals are forced (often thrown) onto cramped transport trucks, where they will spend a great many miles in all weather conditions. Industry reports say that more than a million pigs die in transport each year, and 420,000 become crippled before they even arrive at the slaughterhouse. Many animals die of heat exhaustion in the summer and in the winter become frozen solid. Even the most docile animals go mad and attack their crate-mates, some even become cannibalistic. To prevent birds from injuring each other they are mutilated. Their beaks and toes are seared off without anaesthetic, which is equivalent to having your fingernails pulled out. Pigs’ tails are cut off, and sometimes their teeth as well, without any pain relief.
After arriving for slaughter, chickens’ legs are shackled, while other animals are stunned. Their throats are then slit, and they are immersed in scalding hot water to remove feathers and hair. Many animals are still awake when their throats are cut open (usually due to problems with stunning), and many are scalded to death in feather and hair removal tanks. Roughly 200,000 cattle per year are still conscious by the time they get to the water tanks. Some are even still conscious during the skinning process. Birds are exempt from the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, so they are not stunned, and often skip the throat slitter.
For some, “being put out of their misery” does not come until after a brutal life of serving the food industry. Though the consumer is not eating “animal flesh,” the lives of those supplying them with eggs and dairy is not far from their brothers and sisters who are being slaughtered for their flesh. Commercial laying hens are crammed into battery cages with up to 3 other birds, unable to spread their wings or stand up. These battery cages are stacked on top of each other so feces and urine from the upper cages fall through to the ones on the bottom. These chickens also have their beaks cut off to prevent injury to other birds. Commercial hens are kept for two to three years (less than half their average life span), until their production begins to fall. At this point they will be sent for pet food, since their bodies are too beat up to be used for much else. Male chicks are gassed, suffocated in plastic bags, or ground alive because they are unable to lay eggs and were not bred for their meat.
Commercially farmed dairy cows live a bitter life also. Their lives are spent in muddy and manure-caked lots. Cows lactate for 10 months after they have given birth to a calf, so they are routinely artificially inseminated to keep them lactating. Cows naturally produce 10 and a half pints of milk each day for their offspring, but the intense commercial farming exhaust their systems to the point that they produce up to 10 and a half gallons per day. In a natural environment, cows can live up to 20 years, but dairy cows are slaughtered for ground beef after as little as five to seven years, as soon as their milk production begins to decrease. Their calves are taken away usually at a mere 12 hours old to be sent for veal production. Veal calves are squeezed into small, dark crates, destined to live only a few months. These crates are designed to be so tight that the calves are almost completely immobilized, to keep their flesh tender. The majority are fed a mostly liquid diet of milk-replacer, but some are forced to live on pigs blood, chocolate, and dried milk, while humans enjoy their mothers’ fresh milk. Their diet is low in nutritional value in order to keep their flesh white, so they often suffer from diseases like pneumonia and anemia. So even for those who eat dairy but do not eat meat, they contribute to the suffering and slaughter of both dairy cows and their offspring.
If a person is not part of solution, that person is part of the problem. But for those who disagree this saying, consider this: it is not as if people are simply turning a blind eye and walking away. They are taking part in the problem actively if they are eating commercially processed meat, or even dairy and eggs. Just because a person does not do the dirty work, that does not mean they are not responsible. One has to question, how can an entire society accept the travesty of our methods of food animal agriculture, simply because it is our culture? Or is the lack of awareness really that widespread? Theodor Adorno once said “Auschwitz begins wherever someone looks at a slaughterhouse and thinks: they’re only animals.”
Mad cow disease, ironically, was caused because cows were being fed animal by-products, such as ground up slaughterhouse waste (such as meat from sick animals that survive long enough to be slaughtered, cows blood, and poultry feathers) became infected and were packaged and sold anyways. This, as well as many other gross and unnatural practices, was what led to 188,000+ cases world-wide. This demonstrates that in the case of meat, one really is what one eats; our consumption of the ill-treated creatures led to our own suffering.
The Environment – Previous <<< | >>> Next – Conclusion
Vegetarianism – Coming Soon
Today I will have finally finished my research paper on vegetarianism and the meat, egg, and dairy industry. Since I have not been able to add to this blog because I’ve been busy trying this get it done, I’ve decided to post it here. My hopes are that those of you reading will maintain an open mind, even if you decide afterwards that you will continue with your current diet and lifestyle. I feel its important to get the word out – not ‘convert’ others. I will be posting it one section at a time over the next four or five days, since it is a bit lengthy for a blog.
In addition to those supporting the argument, for those of you fervently against vegetarianism for whatever reasons, please feel to comment. I’m always interested hearing in new counter-arguments and other’s opinions. I will also try to answer any questions on the subject to the best of my ability.
Excerpt:
“Continuing to clear forests for raising cattle in the U.S. at the current rate would result in complete deforestation of the country within 50 years.”
k·a·l
