I volunteered to work a few hours for Mercy for Animals on Saturday April 30th. They are a non-profit organization that wants to prevent farm animal cruelty and make people chose more compassionate food choices. I was interested in Mercy for Animals because in class after learning about animal cruelty on farms I was a little repulsed. I decided that Mercy for Animals would be a good choice to volunteer at because I wanted to help inform others of animal abuse on farms and how and where they get meats. I helped at an informational booth next to a vegan bake sale . We handed out flyers and a video called farm to fridge that depicts the horror of factory farming that many people don't see or know about. We also took donations to help support Mercy for Animals cause by selling stickers with their logo, and we also sold t-shirts. Because of the bad treatment of farm animals many people in Mercy for Animals are vegans and some are vegetarians.
I talked to the main coordinator of the stand to get a better understanding of her idea and knowledge on the topic. After talking with her, the main reason people become vegan in the organization is due to the fact that animals feel and suffer pain in their horrible conditions on factory farms. When watching the video, Fridge to Farm, and thinking about what I heard from the Coordinator, it reinforced the idea that CAFOs are really horrid and cruel to their animals. In the video it showed more violent images than I had ever seen like slitting the throat of cows still conscious, castrating pigs as newborns without anesthetic, and grinding up baby boy chicks because they are thought of as useless. This is similar to the reading "Brave New Farm" by Jim Mason and Mary Finelli. They describe the treatment of animals in farms and the inhumane practices of the farms. They also describe some of the events like the video. They also talk about how animals sit in cages no bigger than their body and can't even turn around. Animals in CAFOs have open wounds and disease due to bad air and conditions, and are not given medication to treat their wounds. In the "Brave New Farm", they explain that these practices won't stop; "As long as meat is considered acceptable, farm animals will not rise above the status of consumables". After hearing and watching the video it made me think that the article can't compare to watching a video and seeing images and the cries of the pain and treatment animals suffer through. Images are more convincing to turn people away from factory Farm foods. That is why Mercy for Animals does flyers and undercover videos of cruelty of animals.
In one of Mercy for Animals flyers I read, it said that because animals have similar interest, we should not eat them. Meaning that they have emotions of happiness and can feel pain like humans. This reminded me of Peter Singer's, "The Way We Eat Why our Food Choices Matter". He also says that animals have the capacity to suffer like we do. He says that we are taking part in Speciesism. Why eat one animal and not another? In Mercy for Animals they have a similar idea, why can you love a dog or a cat for a pet and not a pig or a chicken? They also explain that pigs are smarter than dogs and smarter than some three year old children. At the end, Singer says to eat ethically is not to eat meat at all. Even if the meat is said to be free range, cows are still shipped to slaughter houses to be killed and that is questionable on how humanely they were slaughtered.
We treat Farm Animals like slaves. We raise them to be killed and feed to people all over the United States and other developed nations. Many animals are beat and go through horrible pain that can last for months. Treatment ignores the fact that many animals want to live in better conditions and want a better life. In a poem by Mary Spears called "Eyes of the Dead", she describes her experience on one day seeing a dead pig over a man's shoulder. She says "How many of my ancestors were treated like today's farm Animals?" There is no respect or good treatment of the animals. They are perceived as nothing more than a supply of food for lots of people. They have no rights, and are bred to be slaughtered. Mercy for Animals wants to stop this process because Farm animals are similar to people. They have feelings and want to live in good conditions also.
After Helping out and learning more about cruelty of farm animals, it has led me to rethink the idea of where my food comes from and what foods to consume. I felt that working with Mercy for Animals reinforced the readings and made me want to start to become vegetarian and maybe one day vegan. I also plan to help out more later if I am available after the summer. I won't look at the meat I consume the same. The treatment of animals is horrible and so are their living conditions. Not everybody in the U.S. will become vegan but the more that decide to stop consuming meat and dairy products will help more farm animals from being raised in factory farms.
No comments:
Post a Comment