Today the humane society released yet another appalling undercover video showing inhumane and blatant abuse of cows on their way to being slaughtered.  I have already discussed the reasons why it’s hypocritical to be an “environmentalist” and be a consumer of meat in my essay titled ‘A Land Ethic for a Modernized Planet’.  Here however, I want to ignore the environmental aspects of the meat industry and just look at the animals.  Just 6 months or so ago, there was a public outcry around this silly country when former NFL star, Michael Vick, was convicted of mistreating dogs.  People all over the country demanded he serve a prison sentence, questioned how someone could be so cruel, and donated to various charities to support animal protection; and then they sat down for dinner and dug into a nice steak.  People, you are no better than Michael Vick.  Eating meat supports the abuse of animals, there is no way around it.  That piece of meat on your plate, whether chicken, steak, obviously veal, lamb, whatever...chances are it went through much worse than any of Vick’s dogs did, and you don’t think twice about it.  Just log onto youtube.com and type in animal abuse or factory farming, and you will see hundreds of videos showing the cruel treatment of the very animals that now sits cut up on your plate.  Unless you hunt for your meat, you support the abuse of animals.  There is no difference between a dog, a cow, a pig, or a sheep.  They are all mammals, they all have nerves, they all have brains, and they all feel pain.  Next time you sit down for a nice steak dinner while your cute dog sits at your feet under the table, think about the fact that meat is meat and in some countries, your cute dog would be prodded, kicked, punched, beaten with metal tubes, stabbed, pulled apart alive, and then served as food just as that cow was here that now sits in front of you on your plate.

I have provided links to the videos showing what I write about.  Don’t ignore it, it’s happening because you support it.

Latest Humane Society Video

Dogs being beaten and slaughtered.

Meet Your Meat

Pigs being scalded alive

Horses being slaughtered