Have you ever wondered why we are taught to love some animals, such as dogs and cats, whilst at the same time we learn that it's okay to hurt other animals?
In most cases we're not taught to hurt them ourselves, but rather we decide that it's okay to let other people do the hurting. And then we turn a blind eye to it.
Most people believe that animal cruelty (or any type of cruelty) is wrong, yet society has conditioned us to ignore the fact that thousands of animals are being murdered every single day behind closed doors.
"The problem is that humans have victimised animals to such a degree that they are not even considered victims. They are not even considered at all. They are nothing. They don't count; they don’t matter; they're commodities like TV sets and cell phones. We have actually turned animals into inanimate objects - Sandwiches and shoes." - Gary Yourofsky
Standard practices during 'food' production will involve baby male chicks being ground up alive.
A dairy cow will have her one day old baby calf taken away from her forever so that her milk, intended for her baby, can be collected and sold.
Male calves' will be shot in the head with a bolt gun, before having their throats slit so they can be sold as veal.
Birds are plucked alive so that their feathers can be used to produce down.
Pigs are gassed to death in CO2 rich gas chambers (and forced into these gas chambers by electric prods).
Sound like a horror movie, doesn't it? And not just for the animals.
"When I travel around the world, I see that poor countries sell their grain to the West while their own children starve in their arms. And we feed it to livestock. So we can eat a steak? Am I the only one who sees this as a crime? Every morsel of meat we eat is slapping the tear-stained face of a starving child. " - Phillip Wollen
I also believe that animal agriculture is a human rights issue for the many slaughterhouse workers who don't have any choice but to work in such industries. No one deserves to hear these cries and screams on a daily basis. Nor should anyone be subjected to performing these violent behaviours in order to earn a living.
"I discovered when we suffer, we suffer as equals, and in their capacity to suffer, a dog, is a pig, is a bear, is a boy." - Phillip Wollen
We all have the desire to live, be happy, and be free. This is why I don't believe that there is such thing as 'humanely' taking an animal's life. How can there be when it involves killing the animal against their own will ?
Below I have linked a 4 minute video containing footage which reveals the standard Australian practices for producing animal products.
If you are unwilling to watch it, or cannot bring yourself to watch it, perhaps you should ask yourself, why?
https://www.aussiefarms.org.au/thousand-eyes.php (warning: graphic)
'If it's not good enough for your eyes. Then why is it good enough for your stomach?' - Gary Yourofsky
For more information regarding the ethical aspects of eating a plant based diet, I recommend watching one (or both) of the following speeches:
The best speech you'll ever hear (speech by Gary Yourofsky)
This is your wake up call (speech by James Aspey)
They're simply speeches, but they are entertaining and so insightful. I have no doubt you'll gain something from watching them.
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