Sylvia's Manifesto

You want to know why I don't want to eat meat anymore???

Because I don't want to eat fear.  I don't want to eat fear, pain and suffering.  I don't want to support the billion dollar corporations that are placing greed before human/animal rights and compassion.  I don't want to unknowingly support an industry that tortures and hurts and terrifies animals any longer just so that I can satisfy my hunger for a juicy steak that will invariably clog my arteries, raise my cholesterol and ultimately lead me closer to a heart attack. 

If I had known about all this sooner, all the horrors of the "animal food industry" that are hidden from view, I would have changed my habits sooner.  But now I know.  And now is where I start.  Today continues this change. And every hour and every minute I remain steadfast and continue to make these choices that will affect everything around me exponentially, animals/humans/nature/the planet alike.

I no longer want to be a part of something which uses electric prods, screaming, and beating to get animals to go to slaughter or to get animals to go to the trucks that will transport them to slaughter.  I no longer want to be a part of something which cages animals so tightly that they are unable to move and they go insane from their lack of basic animal needs for comfort, safety, freedom, companionship, food and water.  I no longer want to support a system who steals a cow's baby from the cow immediately after birth, only to cage the baby and fatten him up for veal and, in the process, to cause psychological trauma for both the mother and the baby.  I no longer want to support a system which keeps a cow pregnant, so that we can keep drinking her milk. (And the residual of drinking her milk is that the cow will give birth again and again... only to produce more "veal calves".) I no longer want to support a system which uses animal slavery and animal cruelty to feed humans.  I no longer want to support a system which creates pain for billions of sentient beings daily.  I no longer want to support a system, which doesn't care. 

I care.  I don't want to cause harm as much as I possibly can. 

I want to be more compassionate and loving and caring.

I want animal suffering to end.  I want factory farming to end.

Here are some photos of the animal slavery of which I speak.  I do have a dream... and that dream is the ending of this horrible method of producing food.  It really is a horribly, unkind system.  There's got to be a  better way.  And it's in our power as humans to change this.  We CAN take care of all sentient beings while taking care of ourselves.  I have a dream and hope for this change in my lifetime. It is possible.

In general, pigs are clean, intelligent, social animals. However, factory farms frustrate their natural desires to exercise, explore, play, root, stay clean, and socialize normally.

The large amounts of blood suggest that this animal was still alive when abandoned outside in the Minnesota winter. The way the blood is splattered also suggests he was unable to move, yet struggled, flinging his head around before finally dying. (these two photos are from Compassionate Action for Animals)

 

 

 

 

Female pigs used for breeding (breeding sows) spend most of their lives confined in gestation crates so narrow that they cannot turn around. (the next 11 photos are from the ASPCA website with captions from www.green-blog.org)

As you can see, a female pig in a gestation crate has no freedom of movement, and barely even has room to lay down.

Although not confined in cages like egg laying chickens, chickens raised for meat are packed so tightly in grower houses that each chicken is alloted about half a square foot of space. If that isn’t bad enough, because broiler chickens have been bred to grow so quickly (twice as fast and large as their ancestors) the organs and skeleton don’t always keep up with this growth. The heart and lungs can’t support the unnatural body mass, resulting in heart failure and large numbers of deaths a year due to health conditions.

At the slaughterhouse, chickens are hung up by their feet fully conscious. Although some slaughterhouses stun the birds by passing them through an electrified bath of water, US federal law specifically excludes chickens from the Humane Slaughter Act mandating that animals be stunned before being killed. However, often times the birds are not rendered unconscious by the shock and proceed, still hung by their feet, to have their necks cut by a mechanical blade. Unfortunately if the bird is not sufficiently stunned, the blade may not actually kill it and the animal proceeds to the next stage in the process while still alive. The birds are then submerged in boiling water to scald them and remove feathers. It’s estimated that millions of chickens a year in the US are ultimately killed in the slaughterhouse by this last step, being boiled alive.

Due to the severely overcrowded conditions they will face, baby turkeys have the upper part of their beaks seared off so that injuries caused by pecking one another can be minimized.

Add captionAt chicken hatcheries, chicks enter the factory farming world packed into huge drawers.

Behind a hatchery for laying hens, unwanted male chicks–which are of no economic value to the egg industry–are simply tossed into a dumpster with shells and other waste.

Confined in metal and concrete pens with slatted floors, these pigs will live in these conditions until they reach slaughter weight of 250 pounds.

 

Dairy cattle make up the largest percentage of downed animals in factory farming, 75%. Too sick or injured to walk, this dairy cow is left in the stockyard while a calf looks on.

To raise calves destined to be slaughtered for veal, the calves are confined in crates about two feet wide and are tethered to the front of the crate with a chain around the neck. These calves will be slaughtered when 4-5 months old.

Though there have been moves in Europe to phase out battery cages for hens, in the US the vast majority of egg laying chickens are confined in battery cages such as these. These cages have wire floors and four or five hens are commonly packed into each cage. Obviously they cannot stretch their wings or exhibit any normal chicken behavior. 

 

So these are just a very small amount of photos of some of what goes on in factory farms.  These photos aren't as harsh as others I've seen.  But you can imagine.  Also, if you watch the film "Earthlings", you get a better idea of what goes on in factory farms. It's really an eye opener because you get to see undercover videos of what really happens in some of these big, meat industry companies.  Check it out; it'll save your life and the lives of animals by just learning more about this major social issue of our time.

Hugs to all, and may everyone tread kindly as they walk through their life.
~Sylvia