Reasons to Go Vegan #12: "Humane Slaughter"

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"Humane Slaughter"

When we tell ourselves we're eating meat from "humanely raised animals," we're leaving out a huge part of the equation. The slaughtering of an animal is a bloody and violent act, and death does not come easy for those who want to live.

          —Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

I was horrified and sad, and I just couldn't believe that this was happening in our pasture. Right there! These adorable baby little calves jumping around, playing around. They would be on someone's plate someday! I couldn't eat those precious cows—they were my babies! I bottle-fed some of them.

          —Carrie Underwood

Position on "Humane" Meat, Dairy, and Eggs —Animal Place

Since 1989, Animal Place has advocated for farmed animals. And in recent years, more of the rescued animals at our 600-acre sanctuary and 60-acre adoption facility arrive from farms touting themselves as purveyors of "humane" meat, milk, and eggs. Some farms have received stamps of approval from third-party agencies or market retailers.

The Myth of "Humane" Animal Exploitation

Being humane means acting with compassion to those in need, both humans and nonhumans.

If applied to companion dogs and cats, the methods in which we raise, care for, and kill farmed animals would be considered unlawful and cruel. The end of an animal's life on a "humane" farm is no different than on an industrial farm. Many of the same practices on factory farms are performed—without pain relief—on small and "humane" farms. More…

What are the Roots of Freedom and Slavery? Will Tuttle, 2/2013

• In just the U.S. alone, over nine billion animals enslaved on factory farms and family farms are killed for food and leather annually, as well as untold billions of fishes in aquaculture operations. Beyond the meat, dairy, and egg industries, many millions more animals are enslaved in breeding operations (such as dogs, birds, and horses), as well as in zoos, circuses, research and testing facilities, and for other products such as feathers, wool, and silk. The scope of animal slavery today is so vast that it is seemingly beyond human conception, involving billions of animals used for an almost limitless variety of products and services, and inflicting a relentless avalanche of depravity and cruelty on these animals who are seen as property objects existing merely to give us more milk, more offspring, more products, and more profits.
  
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• Facts that Refute the 7 Most Common Myths about Horse Slaughter pdf

  Proponents of slaughter have misguided the public and many policymakers in an effort to support the reopening horse slaughter in the U.S. This has resulted in the propagation of myths and false or misleading and unsubstantiated information that is, in turn, simply repeated through the media as if they are true.



• Water Buffalo, Donkey Join Horse Meat on the Menu, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 3/2013

  Pork, chicken, and soy were found in items that were not supposed to contain them, the researchers said, and "unconventional species such as donkey, goat, and water buffalo were also discovered in a number of products."

Speciesism

Modern farms have been struggling to keep a secret. Most of the animals used for food in the United States are raised in giant, bizarre factories, hidden deep in remote areas of the countryside. Speciesism: The Movie set out to investigate.

But this is just the beginning. In 1975, a young writer published a book arguing that no justifications exist for considering humans more important than members of other species. It slowly began to gain attention. Today, a quickly growing number of prominent individuals and political activists are adopting its conclusions. And, as a result, they rank these animal factories among the greatest evils the world has ever known. Speciesism: The Movie decided to find out if they could be onto something. Because if they are, it is something very, very big.

Graphic by Rich Lysloff at Vegan Food For Thought.

Still not convinced? Listen to these.