Institutionalized Cruelty: Factory Farming
If you want to see what a corporate farm looks like go click the link above. Birds are debeaked, and shoved into poorly ventilated pens with hundreds of other birds. If they aren't slaughtered, they end up either starving or pecking each other to death. Each hen spends 34 hours in a battery cage causing muscle and bone weakness. Hens now produce 154 more eggs a year than in 1888 (SFAP, 1998). And the end of their egg laying cycle they are either slaughtered or force molted which involves removing food and water to shock their bodies into another egg laying cycle. All male chicks are killed by suffocation in plastic bags, decapitation, gassing, or crushing. (Rollin, 1995) Cows are injected with hormones that increase milk production. Once a cow is out of milk it is slaughtered. BGH bovine growth hormone adds about 6 tons more milk per cow. This leads to udder ligament damage, lameness, mastitis, and metabolic disorders which often necessitate killing the cow. Baby cows are taken away from their mother and fed milk replacer until slaughtered. All animals during their transportation lose at least 3% of their weight from urination and defecation as a result of stress. They are also exposed to extreme weather conditions (USDA, suvey of stunning & handling 1/7/97). After the trip, trauma is often a result. Animals too sick to walk are dragged by chains to the deadpile and abandoned.
Slaughtering methods: Captive bolt stunning - metal rod is thrust into brain (rod often misses). Electric stunning - produces seizure then throat is cut. Tmple Grandin PhD in a USDA survey said, "Insuffiecient amperage can cause an animal to be paralyzed without losing sensibility." (USDA, survey of stunning & handling). Fish and other marine animals are dieing out. Industrial fishing is depleting marine food webs destorying ocean ecosystems. 80,000 dolphins die in nets every year.
Reason # 2 Environment
70% of US grain is fed to farm animals. It takes 7 lbs of grain for 1 lb of pork and 15 lbs of grain for 1 lb of beef. Improper grazing causes habitat loss and ecosystem damage. topsoil erosion is a serious problem now. Industrial farming also adds to global warming. Scientific America (9/97) reported that growing feed rquires intense use of synthetic fertilizer releasing nitrous oxide and also burnt fossil fuels release carbon dioxide. Intesive pig farms have made air unbreathable in many rural communities; some residents must wear masks while outdoors. (Time, 11/30/98) Ammonia emissions from manure settle on plants resulting in toxicity and biodiversity loss; it accumulates heavy metals contamintaing crops and increasing health risks it also leas to nitrates in groundwater. It's no doubt animal waste is becoming a serious problem. Animal waste in water ways has killed over 11 million fish (senator Tom Harkin 12/97).
Reason #3 Health
Cancer prevention- Vegetarians have lower death rates from colon and lung cancer. Factors are more fiber in vegetarian diets, plant foods with vitamins c and e and carotenoids, and plants the conatin phytochemicals. The risk for heart disease is also lowered because of less saturated fat, which is found mostly in animal products. Anti-oxidants in plants also protect against fatty build-up in arteries. Bones are often stronger, because of less acidic blood (too much protein makes the blood acidic).
Choose your own reasons, but most of all do it for yourself and the animals. Not for anyone else. Wether you think animals should be liberated, have rights, or you just love animals, stand behind your beliefs, dont let anyone knock you down. So there it is, concern for animals, world hunger, the environment, religious beliefs, health, you dont like the taste, the list goes on and on, but the only thing that matters is what choice you make. For information on vegetarian or vegan diets you can go to http://veggie.org or www.vrg.org. see ya later.