!!!Warning here folks, I am not holding back on this article. Some of the pictures and information is very disturbing!!!
Hello All,
Thanks for being patient with this part of the posting. This weekend was a HELL weekend, and I hope to not step foot in a hospital for a very very long time.
Now, as you know now, being a vegetarian, or even eating less meat helps the environment, BUT if that isn’t enough for you to save the earth, maybe the idea of saving a few animals might entice you to make the change.
Welcome to the ugly side of eating meat. I bet it never crossed your mind to think about what happens to the animals. I think the best way to show this to you is through the use of pictures. Hopefully you don’t have a weak stomach…
Lets take a look at Cows…
One million calves are raised for veal annually in the United States—intensively confined in individual stalls so small they can’t turn around during their entire 16- to 18-week lives before slaughter. Widely known for their inherent cruelty, veal crates are being phased out in Europe—yet remain in use throughout the United States.
Dairy cows are so overburdened that they are considered “productive” for only two years and typically are slaughtered when four years old, their bodies battered and weak.
Just in the United States, approximately 35 million cattle are killed for beef, 9 million cows are raised for milk, and 1 million calves are raised for veal yearly. Now you have to understand, these killings are brutal, and are done without thinking of the animal at all. Most cows are slaughtered when they are 4 years old. Their 4 year life involves them being castrated, dehorned and branded without any anesthesia.
Now, lets take a look at Chickens…
As male chicks cannot lay eggs and aren’t the same breeds as those chickens raised for meat, they are of no value to the egg or broiler industries. Shortly after hatching, hundreds of millions of unwanted male chicks are killed by the commercial egg industry annually, usually by gassing, crushing, or suffocation.
This makes me sick, 1 million chickens that are raised for meat are killed each hour. Can you believe that? The sad part is, dying is the easy part. Chickens are raised as fast as possible so they can be sold for meat. To do this, fast growth formulas are given to them. This might not seem like a painful experience, but picture this, the Univeristy of Arkansas Division of Agriculture reports, “If you grew as past as a chicken, you’d weigh 349 pounds at age 2″. As a result, 90% of broiler chickens have painful leg problems, and 26% suffer chronic pain as a result of bone diseases. All these growth hormones put these animals on the edge of structural failure. But who cares there just chickens right? Well Let me ask you as question, what animal do you think I am describing?
These animals exist in stable social groups. They can recognize each other by their facial features. They have 24 distinct cries that communicate a wealth of information to one another.
It’s a chicken… So next time you think that they are “just chickens” think again.
Last, lets take a look at pigs…
I think you get the point of how much they are abused, so I will just show you some pictures.
Right before giving birth, the pregnant sows are moved from gestation crates into equally restrictive farrowing crates, stalls designed to separate mother pig from her nursing piglets and so small she can only stand up and lie down.
Sick and injured pigs were brought to a pen where they were, in many cases, left to die without veterinary care. This pig was unable to drink for days before finally dying.
Okay, well I hope I still have a few readers still with me right now. As you can see, the abuse animals go through for the sake of being eating is disgusting. There was a quote that made me be a vegetarian and I would like to share it with you.
I don’t eat meat, because I do not want my body to be an animals’ graveyard.
Now, I understand being a vegetarian is not for everyone, and I promise I won’t hold anything against you if you just like to eat meat. Malcolm Gladwell says awareness is no longer the problem with the environment, action is. I agree, but I think this is a part of being sustainable that not many are aware of. Simply reducing the amount of meat you eat per week can make huge changes in the environment, AND can save the lives on many animals. The last posting in this series will teach you ways to eat less meat, and teach you ways to cook vegetarian meals that I promise you will like….annnd of course I will show you how to do this on a budget.
Let me know what you think of this article. Are the pictures to harsh? Did any of you not make it to the end? Did this make any of you think differently about the meat you are eating?
I would love to hear from you.
Filed under: Vegetarian | Tagged: abuse, chicken, cows, environment, goveg, graveyard, malcolm gladwell, meals, meat, pigs, veal, Vegetarian
FREE RANGE??? Not for chickens, we dont want to die, come on, do we really want them to be pron to more desises?? How could we collect eggs?? DO you want them imported and the ECONOMY to go down MORE?
The CRATES? Great Idea, so they dont sqish the piglets, if they do that.. well then, we have a higher demand for ham, bacon, and insulin.
as for dairy production dang take a class!
This is a joke! Come on people, it’s called thinking clearly. How can we honestly protect the farm animals? A farrowing create for pigs is to protect piglets from being painfully laid on by their mother, but yet Michigan now has a law against it. If anyone has ever experienced a piglet being laid on they would understand. They suffer a great deal; think of a three pound piglet being laid on by a five hundred pound sow can you say ouch? Some piglets that make it out alive can suffer days with internal organ exposed outside the body before passing away. The farrowing create protects piglets, and it make easy access for farmers that need to give medications of assistance in births to aggressive gilts and sows. This is for the safety for the animals, and what does turning around do for the animal, most sows won’t even stand up for the first week We have people that have know clue about how a farm is operated telling farmers what is right and wrong. Can someone explain to me, how this is protection to farm animals? wait spare me, never mind.
Greenbudget, you are on of THE dumbest people I have ever seen. Obviously you dont know what your talking about because the farrowing crates are used to help piglets from being smashed. without the crates, more piglets would die and not live a peaceful life like you want them to have. Also, the calves aren’t left in the veal pens there entire lives. You’re an idiot to think that. animals are for food. If we stop eating them, where do we get meat? i think your whole point of view is idiotic and I would suggest next time you decide to write a stupid article like this one, do some research.