Why Vegan?

"Slaughterhouses should be in restaurants and grocery stores. They should have a glass wall so people must see the animals and choose. Look into the animal's eyes and say, "OK, slit his throat." ? Ingrid Newkirk?

FACTORY FARMING

A common notion is that, animals are of no use to agribusiness; therefore, farmed animals must be treated well. This notion is mistaken. The worldwide trend in animal agriculture is to replace family farms, such as those seen from country roads, with corporate farms rarely seen by the public. These factory farms are large warehouses where animals are kept in crowded pens or tiny, individual stalls. Large numbers of beef cattle, dairy cows, pigs, chickens, and turkeys are raised under such conditions. (Animal agriculture textbook Scientific Farm Animal Production (SFAP), 1998) One need only glance through farm industry magazines to see that these 'intensive rearing' systems are promoted as necessary for the production of low-cost animal products. Putting animals in small spaces causes some to die, but as a group, the net production is higher. National Hog Farmer suggests that "Crowding pigs pays" in an article recommending space be reduced from 8 to 6 square feet per pig (11/15/93). Bernard Rollin, PhD, explains that it is "more economically efficient to put a greater number of birds into each cage, accepting lower productivity per bird but greater productivity per cage...individual animals may 'produce' for example gain weight, in part because they are immobile, yet suffer because of the inability to move...Chickens are cheap, cages are expensive." (Rollin, B., Farm Animal Welfare, Iowa State U Press, 1995)

Common mammal slaughtering methods include: Captive bolt stunning ? A "pistol" is set against the animal's head and a metal rod is thrust into the brain. Shooting a struggling animal is difficult, and the rod often misses its mark. (Meat & Poultry, 3/97) Electric stunning ? An electric stunner is used to produce a grand mal seizure, then the throat is cut and the animal bleeds to death. In a USDA survey, Temple Grandin, PhD, states, "Insufficient amperage can cause an animal to be paralyzed without losing sensibility." (USDA, Survey of Stunning & Handling, 7/97)

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