Letters to the Editor
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Wow, Mr. "Questions"
You're a pretty scary guy.
My question to you would be, "How are things over at the National Cattlemn's Beef Association?"
If anyone wants to know what it is that makes a normal, whitebread taxpayer into a vegetarian, now for roughly fifteen years, you need look no further than the cold-blooded cruelty expressed in "Questions."
And I quote: "This cow being dragged off the truck by a tractor and chain seemed to be the most appropriate action, but once in the alleyway she should have been dragged into a side pen out of traffic. Then a few sessions at intervals of several jolts with the hotshot to force her to try to struggle to her feet would seem appropriate."
Go to church on Sunday, do you? Think you're a good guy? Because you are one scary, cruel person.
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What I wrote to my love when I sent this article...
Hi Baby,
I just saw your text message this morning. I miss you too. You have one of the purest hearts of anyone I know, and I cherish you.
I frequently find myself in conflict, though. There's something about this world that I think you have chosen to turn a blind eye to, and I'm afraid that if I push you too hard to look, you'll end up turning away from me as well. It has to do with human cruelty. Sure, cruelty is all around us, and in many cases, it seems there is little we can do to stop it or even make it less horrible. Turning away is a natural response. After all, we have enough trouble just keeping up with everything without taking responsibility for, and standing up against, cruelty, right?
Well, I think we have to. I can't be a compassionate, loving person and participate in cruel, violent acts. It just doesn't work for me. And I don't think that it would work for most people, either. I'm not so special. I just had someone show me what I had been turning a blind eye to for so long. And I am truly, truly thankful for that.
See, it might seem like an extra burden to live in recognition and avoidance of the violent cruelty that is an inescapable part of animal consumption, but it really isn't. Once you face the truth about the roll you're playing in this horror-- and you play a pivotal roll every time you buy consumer products that were made from slaughtered animals-- there is a real lifting of a burden from your heart, your soul, your conscience.
So please, read this article, watch the video, and know that I'm sending this to you not because I judge you to be cruel and inhumane, but because I know you're not.
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Defending Farm Animals
Here's another group trying to educate and inform the public of the suffering and abuse of farm animals.
www.defendingfarmanimals.org
I like meat as much as the next person, but scenes depicted have made me cut back consumption more and more as I get older.
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there's a logical flaw in the argument that it's ok to slaughter animals because they aren't people but it's ok to eat animals because animals do it
if we are different from animals when it is a benefit to us they we aren't necessarily entitled to act like animals when it is convenient.
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Animal Abuse
Temple Grandin (one of my heroes) on her website described the two kinds of animal welfare issues.
Abuse and Neglect
These are abuses that good livestock producers would not tolerate. They are animal cruelty abuses such as dragging downed crippled cattle, rough handling, throwing baby dairy calves, beating an animal, starving an animal, failing to provide shelter, or shackling and hoisting an animal prior to ritual slaughter. Almost all problems which occur during handling, transport and slaughter of livestock are Category #1 abuses. I estimate that over 75% of all livestock producers, transporters and slaughter plants do a good job of preventing these abuses. However, 10% allow Category #1 abuses to occur frequently and another 10% occasionally have problems with animal abuse. This is an area where the industry needs to clean up it's house and take action against the bad operators.
Boredom and restricted environment
Whereas the animal welfare issues in Category #1 concern obvious animal abuses and cruelty, the issues in Category #2 do not involve pain. Category #2 welfare issues are animal boredom and abnormal behaviours which may occur in barren environments that do not provide adequate stimulation. Examples would be gestation stalls for sows, veal calf housing in individual stalls, and chickens in cages. In some cases boredom problems are easy to correct. Providing small handfuls of straw or toys to pigs will often prevent abnormal behaviour.
**This is an area where more research is needed.**
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Meat
But if Mother Nature didn't intend for us to eat meat then why did she make it so tasty?
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Re: learningforlife
What I’d really like to read is the message your sweetheart sent back to you.
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Video
I'm curious how difficult it would be for regulatory authorities to require the kill floors or other areas dealing with live cattle to install video cameras that would be reviewed by inspectors. Obviously, this doesn't really make it more likely that inspectors will see bad action, but often enough, just the presence of a video camera is enough to prompt good behavior.
I'm a die hard meat eater, but this kind of thing really does make me upset.
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Another reason I went veg
There must be something in meat that affects the brain. It makes you think you're funny or original when you ask dumbass "questions" like, "But if Mother Nature didn't intend for us to eat meat then why did she make it so tasty?"
It also makes you think you're the first one to say, "But what about vegetables? Don't you think THEY have feelings?' Or think you're a great investigative genius when you say, "But aren't your shoes leather?" No they're not, but thanks for attacking.
The one thing I do notice meat makes people do is justify, unasked, what they eat when they find out someone is a vegetarian. Please note, my saying I don't eat meat is not synonymous with asking you to justify what you eat. That impulse comes from you, and you might want to ask yourself why you feel the need to justify if you think eating meat is no problem.