Protecting Animal Rights
Life on the Farm…It’s NOT as we Know it.
Close your eyes for a moment, and imagine someone taking your family pet and shooting a bolt into her skull. Now further envision that this shot didn’t entirely incapacitate your beloved family member, but instead just made her woozy. While she attempts to regain clarity, her hind leg is shackled and she’s hoisted into the air upside-down. She’s scared and confused, and while panic and adrenaline course through her body, she thrashes violently to escape this horrific nightmare. Gradually she fights less, and as her strength and will to live subside, her throat is ‘mercifully’ cut. As her eyes dim, and the pool of blood spreads beneath her, the one question that echoes the strongest is simply…”Why?” As horrific a picture as the above might paint, such a scenario cruelly plays out in slaughterhouses around the world. Instances of animal cruelty and inhumane treatment are commonplace, yet society for the most part has turned a blind-eye to these misdeeds. Seemingly a dichotomy exists, whereby livestock and animals raised for human consumption (Hereinafter “food animals”) are allowed to be treated in ways that would be unthinkable for family pets and other creatures. By examining the morality and misconceptions behind this mindset, the financial realities of the industry, and the inherent health concerns associated with these activities, it will become evident that food animals clearly deserve to be treated more humanely. As hopefully the preceding paragraph has highlighted, most individuals would consider it deplorable for a beloved family pet to be treated in the aforementioned manner. Why then has society seemingly deemed it acceptable for farm animals to be handled as such? The most oft-argued rationalization for this mistreatment rests with the notion that these animals are basic creatures that simply do not feel pain and suffering. The idea that animals might not experience these feelings as humans do traces back at
Close your eyes for a moment, and imagine someone taking your family pet and shooting a bolt into her skull. Now further envision that this shot didn’t entirely incapacitate your beloved family member, but instead just made her woozy. While she attempts to regain clarity, her hind leg is shackled and she’s hoisted into the air upside-down. She’s scared and confused, and while panic and adrenaline course through her body, she thrashes violently to escape this horrific nightmare. Gradually she fights less, and as her strength and will to live subside, her throat is ‘mercifully’ cut. As her eyes dim, and the pool of blood spreads beneath her, the one question that echoes the strongest is simply…”Why?” As horrific a picture as the above might paint, such a scenario cruelly plays out in slaughterhouses around the world. Instances of animal cruelty and inhumane treatment are commonplace, yet society for the most part has turned a blind-eye to these misdeeds. Seemingly a dichotomy exists, whereby livestock and animals raised for human consumption (Hereinafter “food animals”) are allowed to be treated in ways that would be unthinkable for family pets and other creatures. By examining the morality and misconceptions behind this mindset, the financial realities of the industry, and the inherent health concerns associated with these activities, it will become evident that food animals clearly deserve to be treated more humanely. As hopefully the preceding paragraph has highlighted, most individuals would consider it deplorable for a beloved family pet to be treated in the aforementioned manner. Why then has society seemingly deemed it acceptable for farm animals to be handled as such? The most oft-argued rationalization for this mistreatment rests with the notion that these animals are basic creatures that simply do not feel pain and suffering. The idea that animals might not experience these feelings as humans do traces back at
Cited: Associated Press. “Symbolic $500M Settlement Reached in U.S. Slaughterhouse Abuse Case”. CTV News. Web. 16 November 2012. Blackshaw,J.K., Blackshaw,A.W. & Kusano,T. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 27 (1997). Carbone, Larry. What Animals Want: Expertise and Advocacy in Laboratory Animal Welfare Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Web. 11 November 2012. Grandin, Temple. “1997 Assessment of Stress During Handling and Transport.” Journal of Animal Sciences. 75: 249-257. Web. 11 November 2012. ---. 2002. Distress in Animals: Is it Fear, Pain or Physical Stress? Special Session: Pain Stress and Fear, American Board of Veterinary Practitioners, May 17, 2002, Manhattan Beach, CA. Web. 11 November 2012. Sneddon, Lynne. "Can Animals Feel Pain?” Institute for Library Animal Research Journal. 50 (4): 338-342. Web. 11 November 2012. Urban, Peter. “Safeguards Sought for Livestock Abuse.” Connecticut Post 7 May 2008 A8. Web. 11 November 2012.