Compassion for Animals

Posts to come...

2009-04-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
I'm sorry to say I'm not a very active blogger. Not that I don't want to change that...
But I just wanted to let anyone who may subscribe to this blog (thank you, by the way!) and anyone who may land here from wherever know that I'm working on a couple entries.

-Why do you eat plants? Plants are living too!!

-Animals eat animals. It's the natural order of things!

I know other veg*ns have addressed these points, and I'm also planning on addressing other tough issues that come up, but I believe the more people we have out there writing about this, the less extreme veganism seems. Plus I always seem to pick up at least some tidbit from everyone even if I'm very familiar with a specific issue. So the more the merrier!

Really Puts Things in Perspective, Doesn't It?

2009-01-31T22:13:00.000-08:00

Isn`t man an amazing animal? He kills wildlife - birds, kangaroos, deer, all kinds of cats, coyotes, beavers, groundhogs, mice, foxes, and dingoes - by the millions in order to protect his domestic animals and their feed. Then he kills domestic animals by the billions and eats them. This in turn kills man by the million, because eating all those animals leads to degenerative - and fatal - health conditions like heart disease, kidney disease, and cancer. So then man tortures and kills millions more animals to look for cures for these diseases. Elsewhere, millions of other human beings are being killed by hunger and malnutrition because food they could eat is being used to fatten domestic animals. Meanwhile, some people are dying of sad laughter at the absurdity of man, who kills so easily and so violently, and once a year sends out a card praying for "Peace on Earth."

preface to Old MacDonald`s Factory Farm, by C. David Coats

Animal Rights vs. Human Rights

2009-01-22T22:15:00.000-08:00

I posted the following on Facebook a while ago.

My friend, whom I have known since I was about 3 or 4 years old, sparked quite a bit of conversation this morning with his status. I was going to keep replying on the status thread, but I decided to post it all here, since I started writing a novel. That way we can continue our conversation if desired, or anyone else can make a comment. Oh and I tagged some extra lovely people just because I know they are interested in animal issues.

Friend

And don't get me started on how, in California, animal rights apparently outweigh human civil rights.via Twitter

Lindsey

I wouldn't call what those animals got in return for the passing of that proposition "rights." Just a BIT less horror and discomfort in their short, tortured lives for the overfed gluttons of this country. Even if you do endorse the exploitation of animals, don't you believe that they somehow deserve at least a little less inhumane treatment?
Perhaps you aren't implying you are against what Prop 2 did, but I don't think you can compare the two propositions - since Prop 2 really didn't give those animals any rights. They are still innocent, emotional, sentient beings who remain prisoners and cannot live their lives as they will.
But I do think that's crazy that the human civil right to which you refer got overturned.
I guess as we treat our animals, so we treat our people we feel are sub-humans.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not for more animal rights and less human rights. I am for more human AND animal rights equally.

Lindsey

Addendum: I really hope that didn't come across as a personal attack on you. I just am most passionate about that issue, and I have a hard time holding back sometimes.

Friend

I never take offense when someone speaks their mind!

Let me first clarify my position and say that I was hopeful that both prop 8 and prop 2 would pass.

It seems, though, regarding the animal rights issue, that we disagree on two fundamental issues. First, what are the rights, exactly, to which animals are entitled, and secondly, is ensuring these rights to animals AS IMPORTANT as ensuring human rights?

To the first question, I will have to assume based on your above comment and what I know of you personally that your position is that animals deserve the same, or nearly the same, rights as humans. Therefore, in regards to the second question, you likely believe it is self-evident that ensuring animals' rights and human rights are of essentially the same importance--in fact, are nearly the same issue.

I know this is a brief synopsis of a stance on a nuanced issue, but do I understand your opinions and position well enough for the purpose of argument?

Lindsey

Good, I am glad I didn't offend you!
You are correct about my position on the issue of animal rights. I believe they deserve nearly the same rights as humans. Of course, I don't believe they should have the right to vote or the right to own property and silly stuff like that, but I believe they should be treated just like human children should be treated - with respect and love. Children don't have full rights like adults, but they are granted protection from harm and death by the law. And luckily we do at least have legislation against harming pets, but it is not nearly enough. People who purposefully harm an innocent being, child or non-human animal, need to be punished equally. Pigs have been shown to be as intelligent as 3 year old children and more intelligent than dogs. How can we just say - "because you can't talk, and because you don't look like me, I am going to imprison you in the most deplorable conditions and kill you for food"? Who has the authority to place a value on what life is more valuable than another? Animals have feelings and families just like us. The only difference between humans and animals is a rational mind, and some people may say that humans are superior because of that. However, many mentally challenged people do not have the ability to rationalize either, and a lot of people would find it deplorable to say that they are inferior beings because of their mental state.
It is not anti-human to be pro-animal. The more we can increase our consideration we have for animals, think of how MUCH more consideration we will have for humans. Sometimes animal rights activists appear as though they are anti-human, but they feel that animals are SO neglected by society that they have to ignore all else and put their LIFE into doing all they can do to further those rights. To them, we have a worldwide slave trade going on. Animals are legally regarded as property and nothing more so. Pets can be taken away just like children can be taken away for maltreatment, but farm animals have nearly no legal protection. They can be treated like garbage, and half of the baby chicks in the egg industry ARE garbage. They throw them alive into grinders or let them suffocate in the trash. How sad is that? How is that different from doing that to a baby? A human baby is an innocent, harmless being, and so is a baby animal. There is just not time for animal activists to be worried about higher rights - such as civil rights. At least any people lacking higher rights aren't being exploited and tortured right now. As soon as animals' basic physical comfort rights are taken care of, we (pro-animal people) can then move more of our efforts toward advancing higher human civil rights.
So you see, both of those types of rights in question right now are nowhere near on the same level. If we ever do get humans and animals to the same level, then so-called animal rights activists will be the first ones to push for human civil rights just as much. By the way, many animal activists are largely in support of human freedoms. (I receive emails on human rights issues, e.g.) They are just so passionate about the animal side and consumed by the urgency of the situation that it appears that they don't care.
Even if people do admit to animals needing more rights than they have (or don't have) right now, then there is the whole circle of life argument where people say death is a part of life. That is true, but why should we have the right to decide who lives and who dies - human or animal? Also, I can understand people who say that hunting animals for food is natural, and I agree - that it is when you are living in the wilderness (although, I wouldn't do it or endorse it), but factory farms (where 99% of animal products are produced in this country) are despicable and anything but natural. PLUS, we have an amazingly abundant, variety-filled food supply which makes it easy to find alternatives to torturing one or more animals just for one's dinner. I've been animal product-free for almost a year now, and I hardly notice the difference between my diet now and before, and it is sad that so many people are under the illusion of needing their meat, dairy, or eggs, and even sadder if they are not under that illusion and need it just because they like the taste.
Anyhow, that was kind of going off on a tangent, but it's somewhat relevant since food is one of the major reasons for animal exploitation.
So I think you can see that I believe that humans and animal rights are equally important because humans ARE animals - sentient beings with the desire to live.
Phew, that's a lot.

Edit: So it's really ironic that I just happened to get a proposed Animal Bill of Rights from the Animal Legal Defense Fund in the mail today.
Here are the rights they are pushing for.

The right of animals to be free from exploitation, cruelty, neglect, and abuse

The right of farmed animals to an environment that satisfies their basic physical and psychological needs [although I don't believe that animals should be farmed, but at least this would be a step in the right direction]

The right of companion animals to a healthy diet, protective shelter and adequate medical care.

The right of wildlife to a natural habitat, ecologically sufficient to a normal existence and a self-sustaining species population.

The right of animals to be freed from cruel and unnecessary experimentation and testing.

The right of animals to have their interests represented in court and safeguarded by the law of the land.

Those aren't too outrageous, right? I think people run at the mention of animal rights because they are very fearful that we are trying to make animals more important than people. No - just trying to give them equal consideration in terms of the right to a free and natural life. Now, show me somewhere that humans are kept in the conditions that animals are kept in, and I will say let's take care of that and give that just as much importance as changing the conditions for animals. The thing is we have already guaranteed these very basic things to humans, so why shouldn't we extend it to animals?
ALSO, people run because animal activists have been given a bad name by a just a few crazies that get all the press. Not all of us, in fact, most of us are normal, non-militant people who see an egregious social injustice occurring.

crossposted at veganise.me

Good Quotations from Living Celebrities

2008-02-29T15:06:00.000-08:00

Selected these from here: http://www.peta.org/living/overheard-archive.aspx

Woody Harrelson

"Yeah, milk does a body good—if you are a calf. It is evil to your body to put something in there that's designed to make an animal go from very small to very big in a short time."
(The Independent)

Benjamin Zephaniah

[When asked what he would eat if he were in a desert with no food in sight except a cow] "I'd find out what the cow was eating and join [him or her]."
(The Independent)

[On becoming a vegetarian at the age of 11 and a vegan at the age of 13] "I was disgusted by the taste and texture and the thought of having flesh and blood against my teeth. Think of the fierce energy concentrated in an acorn! You bury it in the ground, and it explodes into an oak! Bury a sheep, and nothing happens but decay."
(The Independent)

P!nk

"I've always felt that animals are the purest spirits in the world. They don't fake or hide their feelings, and they are the most loyal creatures on Earth. And somehow we humans think we're smarter—what a joke."
(Chicago Sun Times)

Bret 'The Hitman' Hart

"I fail to see the glory in taking a high-powered rifle with a targeting scope and blowing away a grizzly bear—often leaving orphan cubs behind to starve, get hit by cars—or to be exterminated themselves by some other jerk so he can mount their little baby heads on his wall. The only thing animal trophies are a testament to is ignorance. In my view, there is absolutely no sport and nothing in any way admirable about hunting in today's times, [when] we do not have the necessity of slaughtering our own food. ... Hunting is just senseless butchering and too often done inhumanely."
(The Calgary Sun)

Jennifer Connelly

"We are big veggie people in our house. I know that sounds boring, but we are more indulgent with our love than our food. So it's going to be a veggie menu."

Homer Simpson

"The zoo opens up a whole new world for the animals. In the wild, they would never experience boredom, obesity, loss of purpose—you know, the American Dream!" [LOL]
(TV Guide)

Richard Gere

"People get offended by animal rights campaigns. It's ludicrous. It's not as bad as mass animal death in a factory."
(Time Out)

Richard Gere

"People get offended by animal rights campaigns. It's ludicrous. It's not as bad as mass animal death in a factory."
(Time Out)

Dick Gregory

"Animals and humans suffer and die alike. Violence causes the same pain, the same spilling of blood, the same stench of death, the same arrogant, cruel, and brutal taking of life."
(Marin Independent Journal)

James Cromwell

"If any kid realized what was involved in factory farming, they would never touch meat again. I was so moved by the intelligence, sense of fun, and personality of the animals I worked with on Babe that by the end of the film I was a vegetarian."
(Newark Star-Ledger)

Gov. Jesse Ventura

"[Y]ou need to hunt something that can shoot back at you to really classify yourself as a hunter. You need to understand the feeling of what it's like to go into the field and know your opposition can take you out. Not just go out there and shoot Bambi."
(Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

Cameron Diaz

After being told that pigs share the same mental capacity as 3-year-old children:
"My niece was 3 at the time, which is a magical age. I thought, Oh, my god, it's like eating my niece!"
(Esquire)

Devon Aoki

"I sometimes think, would I drink the milk from the breast of a woman I don't know? No. So I think, why would I drink it from a cow?"
(Heat)

Jack La Lanne

"You name me one creature on this Earth that used milk after they're weaned. It's not good for you. It's good for a suckling calf. Are you a suckling calf?"
(Dateline NBC)

Susan Powter

"[I]f you, or anyone (and I have) ever walked into a meat/chicken mass production house in this country, you wouldn't eat what comes out of there. The stream line inspection system in the U.S. today says it all: 80,000 birds a day processed. Out of those 80,000, only fifteen birds are inspected. Out of those fifteen birds, they have to have three or more pen abscesses to be pulled off the line. Now, if that's OK with you—then you are already brain-dead. If you believe that this government is anything other than a lobby system, then you are stupid as sh-t. If you believe the FDA is protecting you and your family, you shouldn't read The Politics of Stupid ... perhaps a fairy tale, one by Disney—Snow White, ya know—the maid to seven midgets!!!"
(The Stranger)

B.B. King

"I came home one morning and saw an English actress on TV who was talking about how a lot of fast-food companies fix chicken, for example. They showed how the chicken would be coming around like on an assembly line, and when they get to each place, this thing would cut the heads off and something else would do something else to them. And they showed some place in northern Canada where they were killin' the baby seals. They were white and pretty out on the snow, and then they'd kill them and there would be blood and stuff. They showed how we make mink coats in the U.S. We electrocute the minks through their testicles so it won't hurt the fur. I was sitting there and I just got angry. One of my sons who usually cooks for me came over the next morning to make me some bacon and eggs, and I couldn't eat it. And from that time on that's been my protest—I haven't eaten any meat since." [Yeah, BB, I've always known you were awesome!!]

(Guitar World)

Jane Goodall

"Hundreds of people watch the antics of birds on their bird tables, feed them through the winter, and provide nest boxes in the spring, yet never give a thought to the domestic hens, turkeys, and ducks who, in the nightmarish conditions of battery farms, live lives so cramped that they cannot spread their wings or roost or do any of the things that make avian life in the wild so joyous. Thousands of people who say they 'love' animals sit down once or twice a day to enjoy the flesh of creatures who have been utterly deprived of everything that could make their lives worth living and who endured the awful suffering and the terror of the abattoirs—and the journey to get there—before finally leaving their miserable world, only too often after a painful death."
(The Ten Trusts)

Russell Simmons

"My wife, Kimora, once told me while we were watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre that that's a vegetarian movie. The way that woman was screaming, 'Aaaahhh,' and she's running away—that's how every animal you eat is running for his life …."
(Interview With PETA)

Common

"I think and speak clearer since I cut the dairy out. I can breathe better and perform at a better rate, and my voice is clearer. I can explore different things with my voice that I couldn't do because of my meat and dairy ingestion. I am proud and blessed to be a vegetarian, everything became clear."
(Launch)

Is Free Range Really Cruelty-Free?

2008-02-20T14:11:00.001-08:00

The following article is from http://www.cok.net/lit/freerange.php

“Just because it says free-range does not mean that it is welfare-friendly.”
—Dr. Charles Olentine, editor of Egg Industry magazine, an industry trade journal(1)

As concern grows over the way the meat, egg, and dairy industries treat the animals we eat, so does the number of animal products labeled “free-range.” What does this mean? Do “free-range” chickens, pigs, turkeys, and cows receive humane treatment? Are they slaughtered in less violent ways? While “free-range” practices may be less inhumane than the horrors animals are forced to endure on conventional factory farms, they are still very far from cruelty-free.

“Free-Range” Eggs

There is no inspection system for companies that label their eggs “free-range.”

The popular myth that “free-range” egg-laying hens enjoy fresh grass, bask in the sunlight, scratch the earth, sit on their nests, and engage in other natural habits is often just that: a myth. In many commercial “free-range” egg farms, hens are crowded inside windowless sheds with little more than a single, narrow exit leading to an enclosure, too small to accommodate all of the birds at once.

Both battery cage and “free-range” egg hatcheries kill all male chicks shortly after birth. Since male chicks cannot lay eggs and are different breeds than those chickens raised for meat, they are of no use to the egg industry. Standard killing methods, even among “free-range” producers, include grinding male chicks alive or throwing them into trash bags and leaving them to suffocate.

Whether kept in sheds or cages, laying hens—who can naturally live more than ten years—are considered “spent” when they are just one or two years old and their productivity wanes. Rather than being retired, “free-range” hens are slaughtered to make room for another shed of birds.

With no federal regulations overseeing the use of animal welfare claims on egg cartons, misleading or exaggerated claims are rampant. Consumers may be deceived by phrases such as “animal-friendly” or “naturally-raised,” which can be found on cartons of eggs from caged hens. Read about COK’s truth in labeling campaign urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to require the full disclosure of production methods on eggs cartons sold nationwide.

“Free-Range” Broiler Chickens

Birds raised for meat ("broilers") may be considered "free-range" if they have U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified access to the outdoors. No other criteria-environmental quality, the size of the outdoor area, the number of birds confined in a single shed, or the indoor or outdoor space allotted per animal-are considered in applying the label. As with "free-range" laying hens, many "free-range" broilers live in a facility with only one small opening at the end of a large shed, permitting only a few birds to go outside at any given time.

Even Richard Lobb, spokesperson for the National Chicken Council admits, "Even in a free-range type of style of production, you're basically going to find most of them inside the grow out facility…."(2)

According to The Washington Post Magazine, in the case of birds, the term "free-range" "doesn't really tell you anything about the [animal's]…quality of life, nor does it even assure that the animal actually goes outdoors."(3)

Aside from the birds' actual living conditions, there is no prohibition in "free-range" poultry farming against using breeds of chickens and turkeys who have been selectively bred for fast growth and high feed conversion.

In the 1950s, it took 84 days to raise a five-pound chicken. Due to selective breeding and growth-promoting drugs, it now takes only 45 days.(4) Such fast growth causes chickens to suffer from a number of chronic health problems, including leg disorders and heart disease.(5) According to one study, 90 percent of broilers had detectable leg problems, while 26 percent suffered chronic pain as a result of bone disease.(6) Two researchers in The Veterinary Record report, "We consider that birds might have been bred to grow so fast that they are on the verge of structural collapse."(7) Industry journal Feedstuffs reports, "[B]roilers now grow so rapidly that the heart and lungs are not developed well enough to support the remainder of the body, resulting in congestive heart failure and tremendous death losses."(8)

Whether labeled "free-range" or not, if the birds used by agribusiness are the standard "broiler" chicken of today, buying these products involves an enormous amount of animal suffering.

And, as with factory-farmed birds raised for their meat, "free-range" chickens and turkeys may undergo the same grueling and sometimes fatal transport to slaughterhouses when reaching market weight. Workers gather these birds up to four at a time, carrying them upside down by their legs before throwing them into crates on multi-tiered trucks without protection from the heat or cold and without access to food or water. "Free-range" birds end up at the same slaughterhouses as factory-farmed birds, where they are hung upside down, have their throats slit, and bleed to death, often while still fully conscious.
“Free-Range” Cows, Sheep, and Pigs

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), "free-range" beef, pork, and other non-poultry products are loosely defined as coming from animals who ate grass and lived on a range. No other criteria-such as the size of the range or the amount of space given to each animal-are required before beef, lamb, and pork can be called "free-range." "Free-range" and "free-roaming" facilities are rarely inspected or verified to be in compliance with these two criteria. The USDA relies "upon producer testimonials to support the accuracy of these claims."(9)

Even when "free-range" cows, sheep, and pigs are allowed to live outdoors, they are still subjected to excruciating mutilations without painkiller or analgesic, such as castration, branding, dehorning, tail-docking, and tooth-grinding. Once they are fattened to market weight, they are trucked to slaughterhouses. They are denied food, water, and adequate protection from extreme temperatures once in the vehicles, and many die during the trip. These cows, sheep, and pigs are still slaughtered in the same violent ways as factory-farmed animals: They are pushed through narrow chutes, hung upside down on conveyor belts, and have their throats slit; some are dismembered while still fully conscious.

Is a Truly Free-Range World Possible?

The U.S. animal agribusiness industry currently confines and slaughters more than ten billion land animals each year, the overwhelming majority of whom live intensively confined on factory farms where many cannot even turn around or fully stretch their limbs. Would it be possible to raise ten billion animals without intensive confinement? Probably not.

If intensive confinement operations were banned, it's highly unlikely producers could supply an entire nation of 300 million meat-, egg-, and dairy consumers with enough animal products to sustain the typical American diet. So, without even considering the ethical problems inherent in raising and slaughtering animals for food, from a practical perspective, completely humane farming and slaughtering methods aren't possible.

The Bottom Line

Granted, living in cramped conditions is better than living in even more cramped conditions. Laying hens who have 67 square inches of space per bird likely suffer less than those who have only 50, and giving even 10 out of 10,000 turkeys access to sunlight and the outdoors is better than denying all of them such basic needs. But, clearly, commercial "free-range" farming is not the answer to ending animal abuse.
Doing the Right Thing

The animals killed so we can have chicken breasts, milk, and omelets feel pain and experience joy just like the dogs and cats we pamper. And, like dogs and cats, they want to live free from torture and suffering. By choosing vegetarian foods, we can improve their lives and our own. Indeed, eating meat, eggs, and dairy products is not necessary for our survival and. In fact, even the country's leading nutrition organization, the American Dietetic Association, states that "appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases."(10)

Since we have no need for meat, eggs, and dairy products, why support animal cruelty by purchasing those products? Becoming vegetarian, rather than looking for less inhumane animal products, is the most ethical decision to make.

Visit Tryveg.com to learn more about transitioning to an animal-friendly diet, recipes, information on factory farming, and more.
Citations:

1. Olentine, Charles. "Welfare and the Egg Industry: The Best Defense Is an Offense," Egg Industry, October 2002, p. 24.
2. Quoted from interview with CNN news piece which aired on July 25, 2004. Transcript available at http://www.cok.net/feat/cnn.php.
3. Perl, Peter. "The Truth About Turkeys," The Washington Post Magazine, November 5, 1995.
4. Duncan IJH, "Welfare Problems of Meat-Type Chickens," Farmed Animal Well-Being Conference at the University of California-Davis, June 28-29, 2001; personal correspondence with Stephen Pretanik, director of Science and Technology, National Chicken Council, Washington, D.C., January 14, 2004.
5. Leeson S, Diaz G, and Summers JD, Poultry Metabolic Disorders and Mycotoxins (Guelph, Canada: University Books, 1995); Julian RJ, "Rapid Growth Problems: Ascites and Skeletal Deformities in Broilers," Poultry Science 77 (1998): 1773-80.
6. Kestin SC, Knowles TG, Tinch AE, and Gregory NG, "Prevalence of Leg Weakness in Broiler Chickens and Its Relationship with Genotype," The Veterinary Record 131 (1992): 190-4.
7. Wise D and Jennings A, "Dyschondroplasia in Domestic Poultry," The Veterinary Record 91 (1972): 285-6.
8. Martin D, "Researcher Studying Growth-Induced Diseases in Broilers," Feedstuffs, May 26, 1997.
9. Donovan, Michael E. Official U.S. Department of Agriculture/Food Safety and Inspection Service letter, April 11, 1996.
10. "Position of the American Dietetic Association: Vegetarian Diets," Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2003, volume 103, pp. 748-765. Available at http://www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/17084.cfm

A Poet and a Dancer Briefly Discussing Veganism

2008-02-19T17:58:00.000-08:00

Great Thinkers/Moralists and What They Say about Abstaining from Meat

2008-02-19T17:55:00.000-08:00

Bulletin from MySpace on Beef Industry

2008-02-19T06:16:00.000-08:00

(NaturalNews) In case you were still curious to learn what really goes on behind the closed doors of beef slaughterhouses, the release of a secret video by the Humane Society (www.HSUS.org) silenced the skeptics and naysayers by revealing the horrifying atrocities committed against diseased cows by slaughterhouse employees (click here to see the Humane Society investigation). As the secret videos show, cows at the Westland slaughterhouse in California were forklifted, electrocuted with cattle prods, kicked and otherwise abused by workers in order to get them into the processing lines so they could be used as meat for the human food supply.

These actions, of course, were taken in violation of federal law. USDA regulations state that non-ambulatory cows (those that can't walk) should never be used in the human food supply due to the risk of disease (mad cow disease in particular). But given that non-ambulatory cows cause a financial loss for slaughterhouses, there is a strong financial incentive to drag, shove, shock or otherwise kick those cows into the processing line so that their flesh can be transformed into a few more bucks of profit for these beef processing companies (and all the companies downstream that use beef, too, like fast food chains, canned soup manufacturers, providers to school lunch programs and so on).

In reaction to the secret video, the USDA has issued a massive recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef. That's the largest ever in the history of the United States. Five felony counts of animal cruelty were charged to the pen manager who worked at the plant, and three misdemeanor charges were filed against another employee. The company has not yet been charged with anything. Note that this would have never happened unless the Humane Society video had brought all this to light.

About 37 million pounds of the recalled beef had already been set to school lunch programs at the time of the USDA recall. But here's the real kicker: Most of that beef has already been eaten by schoolchildren! To understand why this is a big deal for human health, keep reading...

By the way, I've also posted a really nice podcast on this subject that was recorded live from a bamboo rainforest in the high Andes of Southern Ecuador. The background sounds are simply amazing, and the discussion is deep. Click here to view all podcasts now.

There's also an important video clip we've just posted on beef and processed meats from the movie All Jacked Up. Click here to see the video.

Non-ambulatory cows and mad cow disease

You know why the USDA bans the use of non-ambulatory cows in the human food supply? Because diseased cows often have mad cow disease. This is the strange prion-folding disease that turns nervous system to mush. It literally turns brains and spinal cords into non-functional goo. That's why the cows can't walk: Their nervous systems have deteriorated so much that they can no longer stand on their own four feet.

Mad cow disease is not destroyed by cooking. It's not a bacteria or a virus. It's actually a self-replicating structural anomaly that can pass from cows to humans even if the beef is cooked. All that's necessary for cross-contamination is that a little bit of brain matter or spinal cord matter gets mixed into the beef. Do you think that happens at beef slaughterhouses? Of course it does. Routinely, in fact.

So the primary reason this beef is dangerous to humans is because eating a few bites of contaminated beef can result in the human form of mad cow disease: CJD. (See http://www.naturalnews.com/002338.html) It's worth noting that this is the stuff now being fed to U.S. schoolchildren.

What about cruelty to animals?

Beyond the rather disturbing health implications to humans, the treatment of animals in this way is also extremely cruel. Animals are feeling, compassionate beings with consciousness, memories and families. Cows, in particular, are highly aware animals who have far higher consciousness than, say, fish. Cows are mammals, after all, just as we are. They raise their young, protect them, nurse them, and care for them.

The beef industry treats cows with extreme cruelty; both when they are alive and when they are about to be killed for processing. The horrors that cows must endure are atrocities against animals. And these individuals who have engaged in this extremely cruel behavior against cows are guilty of far more than minor violations of regulations regarding animal treatment, in my opinion: They are guilty of torturing living, breathing conscious beings. What these slaughterhouse workers do on a day-to-day basis is nothing less than an organized system of torturing, then murdering mammals for the purpose of earning money by selling their flesh.

This is one reason, by the way, that eating beef makes people angry and violent. The violence is built right into the meat because the cow is killed in a state of extreme fear while experiencing extreme violence. These emotions get imprinted right into the beef, and when that beef is consumed by humans, those emotions are unleashed into their own tissues.

Don't believe me? Google the phenomenon of organ transplant recipients experiencing memories and emotions of the transplant donors. Tissues store emotions. It's a common phenomenon. And when you eat "violent beef," you become more violent yourself. That's why all the pro-war, pro-Bush, pro-military fear-mongers running around this country are mostly steak eaters. That's why Republican politics (the politics of fear, aggression and violence) is so closely tied to cattle ranching and the beef industry. It's also why the military serves beef to all its soldiers: Beef makes soldiers more violent, which makes them "better" soldiers for the Pentagon's campaigns of violence against civilians in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. (Vegetarians would never shoot another human being. Only meat eaters have enough internal fear, anger and violence to pick up a gun and shoot or torture another living being.)

So now we have a national food supply contaminated with mad cow disease and violent emotions. Is it any wonder our population is so sick, diseased and violent? And this is the stuff we're now feeding to our schoolchildren. It's no wonder, then, that our children grow up so disturbed. Combine slaughterhouse beef with TV violence, video game violence and psychotropic drugs, and you have a recipe for behavioral disaster. We're already seeing the results in society today.

When you eat beef, you support murder, torture and violence

Let me be very clear hear to the nearly one million people who read NaturalNews each month: When you eat beef, you directly support the torture and murder of cows. You support violence, and if you actually swallow beef and digest it, you actually absorb violence. You become more angry, fearful and disturbed with every pound of beef you eat. And if you don't believe me, just find 10 people who eat a lot of red meat and compare them to 10 people who are vegans or vegetarians. You'll notice a huge difference in levels of anger, stress and violence: All the vegetarians are non-violent, but the meat eaters are often extremely violent individuals!

I encourage you to decide right now to stop eating beef for the rest of your life. Your decision will have a hugely positive influence on your own life as well as the lives of others. Say it now: I will no longer eat beef for the rest of my life! Once you say it, you no longer have to worry about mad cow disease, either.

I made that same decision many years ago, and it was an easy one to make. I actually come from a family that was involved in cattle ranching. My grandfather raised cows and sent them to the slaughterhouse. He raised them in open pastures, of course, where they had fresh air, live grass and clean water. They were very healthy cows compared to the factory farm animals raised today in Greeley, Colorado. Nevertheless, they were still slaughtered, and every few months, I remember the freezer in our home was stocked with nearly a hundred pounds of frozen beef.

Oblivious to the health implications and ethical considerations, I ate beef by the pound growing up. I thought it was normal, much like most American consumers do today. I ate pork ribs, beef steak, ham sandwiches, sausage, bacon and all the other traditional meat-eating foods you can think of.

But after learning the truth about the beef industry, I made a conscious decision to avoid eating beef for life. I also decided to avoid eating pork. I still eat fish and seafood from time to time, but I'm sure that's next on my list of things to remove from my diet. Upon shifting to a largely plant-based diet (rich with fresh juices and "Juice Feasting"), my health dramatically improved and my moods became far more stable. I began to understand the futility of war and the horrors of violence committed against people, animals and nature, and that's part of what got me on this path of teaching natural health and humility towards Mother Nature.

What I now know is that individuals who eat meat simply cannot comprehend ideas of compassion, non-violence and respecting nature because they are mentally wrapped up in the destructive vibration of pain, anger and violence. If you examine the history of every major religion, you'll find that virtually all spiritual leaders avoided eating meat. Jesus Christ is included on that list. That's why I always think it's hilarious to see so many false Christians destroying their bodies with processed foods and meat products. There is no such thing as being spiritually aware when you are consuming a diet of greed, anger and violence. All those churches serving beef for lunch should be strongly condemned for their decidedly non-spiritual dietary practices. (But that's a whole different article...) Some interesting reading on the history of religions and vegetarianism can be found here: http://www.ivu.org/history/christian/ch...

The next time you go to a church buffet serving meat, ask the people there why they pray for non-violence everywhere except in their food. Also ask them: Would Jesus eat tortured cow meat? It's not a trick question...

Get tough on animal murderers?

Getting back to the present-day crimes against animals committed by slaughterhouse workers, although I do not believe in committing violence against human beings as punishment for their behavior, there's little doubt that these people actually deserve to be severely punished for their actions. However, instead of promoting yet more violence against those responsible, here's my own non-violent plan for what to do with the entire slaughterhouse industry and its workers:

Step 1: Outlaw the use of mammals for human food. That would include cows, pigs and sheep. The practice of factory farming animal flesh for human consumption is not only extremely dangerous for human health, it's also extremely unethical and entirely non-sustainable from an ecological point of view.

Step 2: Offer a program of reeducation for the slaughterhouse workers, giving them opportunities to learn new skills that are not based on violence against living beings. They can even be trained to be organic farmers, thanks to surging demand for organic foods. The banning of mammal meat would also create yet more demand for plant-based food products (which are far more ecologically efficient than meat products anyway, and are actually good for the environment).

Step 3: Giving legal standing to all mammals. Cows should have similar (but not equal) standing to people, meaning that humans do not "own" cows and that humans cannot simply decide to destroy a cow's flesh for purposes of profit. Animals should be considered legal entities with proper guardianship by organizations such as the Humane Society. Anyone committing a crime against an animal would be arrested and face charges just as if they had committed such crimes against another human being. Is shooting a cow the same as shooting a human being? It is if you're the cow!

Step 4: People who wish to eat meat can eat synthetic meat grown in nutrient vats and not associated with living mammals. I am not against people eating meat per se, but rather against the mass slaughter of animals as a way to acquire that meat. If meat can be synthetically grown (and the technology is already available), then I of course support the freedom of consumers to choose to eat that meat. However, a consumer's right to eat meat should never take precedence over an animal's right to an existence without torture and violence.

Concepts beyond meat-eating consciousness

Most meat eaters consider these ideas to be radical, but I believe the idea of using a conscious, aware animal as a meat-growing mechanism is cruel and outmoded. Not only is meat eating simply incompatible with sustainable life on this planet, it's also cruel, unhealthy and destructive to human life.

While perhaps 99% of the people in the world today do not have the awareness to even consider these issues of ethics, the energy "imprinting" of meat, and animals rights, they can at least understand that beef factories as operated today are a risk to human health, and it is on that point alone that the USDA is issuing this recall of 143 million pounds of beef.

You see, the USDA only acts when human lives are at risk, not when animals' lives are compromised. It will apparently take considerably more evolution and maturity in our human civilization for the masses to understand that we are all interconnected: The people, the cows, the dirt, the water, and the entire planet. And we are foolish, indeed, if we expect to treat the living systems around us with extreme cruelty while remaining entirely unaffected ourselves. What we do unto others, as the saying goes, we do unto ourselves. When we treat cows with violence, we become violent, and we will ultimately perish of our own violence.

That is the fate of modern civilization. The way we treat the cows is a reminder of the way in which we are still capable of treating each other. And in a society that does not respect the lives of conscious beings, there is no real respect at all, and the destruction of pivotal living systems is simply a matter of time. It is in this way that Nature becomes the ultimate dispenser of Karma. When we destroy the soils, the crops, the oceans, the rivers, the animals, the food, the air and the seeds, it is only a matter of time before our actions result in our own destruction. For what we are doing to the cows today is merely a reflection of what we do to ourselves and each other.

Learn more:

Watch the video on processed meat and beef products: http://www.naturalnews.com/Index-Videos.html

Listen to the MP3 file (podcast) of an in-depth report on these topics, recorded live from the high Andes of Southern Ecuador: http://www.naturalnews.com/Index-Podcasts.html

Visit the Humane Society's website: www.HSUS.org

Read more about mad cow disease: http://www.naturalnews.com/mad_cow_disease.html

See the CounterThink Cartoon: http://www.naturalnews.com/021659.html

Action item: Stop buying or eating beef!

(source)

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/022666.html

Introduction

2008-02-19T05:15:00.001-08:00

I'm starting this blog to keep track of all the information I find on animal welfare/rights/issues. Instead of just collecting articles and links for my personal use, I decided that I should publicly display them on the slight chance that I may be able to inform someone else. Not everything here will deal with the main topic I just listed. I may post things about environmental issues, weight loss, health, veganism, or just some pictures about cute animals. We'll see. It's basically anything goes. Thank you for stopping by!

-Lindsey