Do Farm Animals Merit our Compassion and Respect?
Dear Editor,
We are a nation of special observances. There is even a World Day for
Farm Animals, observed on October 2nd (Gandhi's birthday). Apparently
it’s intended to memorialize the tens of billions of animals abused and
killed for food.
Like most others, I always thought of farm animals as "food on the
hoof." But when a friend sent me an amazing, endearing Facebook video
(www.facebook.com/LeoJuniorBulldogFrench/videos/1198548160234565/), it
dawned on me that farm animals are much like our family dog, fully
deserving of our compassion and respect.
My internet search showed that they get neither. Male baby chicks are
routinely suffocated in plastic garbage bags or ground up alive. Laying
hens are crowded into small wire cages that tear out their feathers.
Breeding sows are kept pregnant in tiny metal crates. Dairy cows have
their babies snatched away immediately upon birth, so we can drink their
milk.
It was enough to drive someone to drink. Instead, it drove me to replace
the animal products in my diet with a rich variety of plant-based meats
and dairy items offered by my grocery store. I have since learned that a
cruelty-free diet is also great for my health and for the health of our
planet.
Sincerely,
Richard Brandenburg
1035 Suncrest Dr
Ogden, UT 84404
312-224-2681
