Posts tagged ‘Animal Cruelty’
The “Great Adventure” of Shark Punching
The November issue of FHM Australia has Kelly Brook, an incredibly hot chick- complete with boobs hanging out, on it and I still immediately thought of veganism when I read the cover’s headlines. Specifically the headline, “Punch a Shark in the Head,” along with, “Plus 72 other great adventures.”
(The emphasis on ‘other’ is my own – as are the arrows on the cover of FHM)
Soooo, it seems that FHM is saying that punching sharks is a great adventure.
. . .
. . .
(Crickets and wind rustling……..)
Uhm….
. . .
What. the. fuck? You have to wonder about a species of animals that finds it fun to torture other animals. Imagine if the headline read, “Punch a Dog in the Head plus 72 other great adventures.”
Not quite the same meaning is it?
Now ask yourself why.
Now wonder why we find it horrible to hit a dog but not a shark.
Now wonder how I applied that thought process to veganism.
Here’s a clue, it has to do with compassion.
The Business of Killing Animals
WARNING! CLICKING ON THE MERCY FOR ANIMALS LINK WILL TAKE YOU TO A MERCY FOR ANIMALS WEBSITE THAT HAS THE UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION VIDEO – MY INTENTION WAS TO PUT IT ON THERE SO YOU CAN FIND THE VIDEO – I DID NOT REALIZE THAT THE VIDEO IS ON AUTO PLAY AND STARTS AS SOON AS YOU CLICK ON THE SITE. THE VIDEO IS HORRIFIC AND GRAPHIC. VIEWER DISCRETION IS NOT ONLY ADVISED, IT IS ALSO HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
I know that there will be a lot of discussion on other blogs and websites about the Mercy for Animals undercover investigation on an Ohio Dairy Farm, so I’m not going to beat the same drum- if you know what I mean. But I need to address it.
First, I’m going to admit right here and right now that I did not watch the video. I have seen enough violence from humans that I can imagine (after reading about the video elsewhere) what occurred. Hell, even Erik Markus from vegan.com could only make it through the first 20 seconds of it, and he’s watched every one he’s ever posted. So you know what? I’ll just take other people (like Bernard Rollin) at their word when they say that it is probably “the most gratuitous, sustained, sadistic animal abuse” ever seen.
The sad fact is, it’s not uncommon. Not only that, it’s subsidized by the government (US). In fact, Conklin Dairy Farms received subsidy payments totaling $35,282- of which $27,666 is due to dairy subsidies.
The outrage to this video is what you would expect it to be, but here’s the thing- is it really that outrageous that the people who are in the business of killing might abuse animals? Any farm that is used for animal production hires people to kill animals- regardless if the animals are shipped elsewhere first or they are processed on the farm, they are still killed for profit. We give these folks a license to kill sentient beings under the guise of “human need/want/desire,” then become surprised to find out that they might have abused the animals before killing them. I, for one, am not shocked- not totally anyway.
There have been many studies done showing a connection between violence towards animals and violence towards humans. I’ve mentioned it before but, “…Up to two-thirds of those who commit animal cruelty also commit at least one other criminal offense, including drug trafficking, assault, rape, theft and homicide. Most troubling of all is the strong connection between violence toward women and children and animal abuse.”
So in some twisted way, it almost makes sense that the workers in these death factories lean towards the violent. And let me clarify that for the people waiting to jump down my throat saying how Dairy Farmers Care for their Animals, I am not suggesting that every single person working in the animal industry is violent- surely that isn’t the case. But I will say this, I question how non-violent you can be if you kill a non-human simply because you want to use their skin for a new handbag or shoes (or clothing, or furniture, or food).
Remember how I am obsessed with an ex-vegan? I knew that he would have something to say on the matter, and I was right. Let Them Eat Meat had this to say (the bolding and emphasis is my own):
Conklin Dairy Farms is clearly awful, but that doesn’t mean no one should ever eat cheese again. If anything, this video shows the ludicrousness of vegan arguments that equate all animal use with sadistic torture. This video contains actual sadism — it is the gratuitous violence and not the mere fact of animal use that is upsetting here.
If the abuse documented in this video is an argument against dairy, it’s also just as compelling an argument against humans and animals ever interacting. These workers tortured cows for fun, not to get milk out of them, which is possible any time a cruel human and a relatively defenseless animal are in a room together. If this video means we should stop eating dairy, it also means no one should own pets, since dogs and cats might be tortured too (and pet owners are even less regulated than dairy farmers).
Obviously, again, we disagree. Violence breeds violence- whether you try to justify it by putting it on your plate or not.
And, of course, the Agribusiness folks have taken the opportunity to turn this into an attack against vegans. Chuck over at AGWired, a website for the industry, had this to say about the video (again, emphasis is my own):
This is a heads up in case you haven’t heard about it. Yesterday the Associated Press published a story about a video that was allegedly taken undercover at an Ohio dairy farm by the group Mercy For Animals. It is a shocking and disturbing video and whoever is actually involved should be put in jail for a very long time. If you click through and watch the video be warned. It’s graphic and bad.
Regardless of who is responsible for the violent acts in the video this will be used by animal rights activists to tarnish the image of good dairy farmers everywhere. This is a group of militant vegans with an agenda so it is good to question their credibility and motivation.
Shocking. Disturbing. Be warned. Graphic. Bad. Regardless of who is Responsible for the violent acts.
You know what Chuck? At least we can agree on that. Regardless of who is responsible for the violent acts, it is shocking, disturbing, graphic, and bad so- be warned. Question my credibility and motivation, as a vegan, as to why I would encourage the dissemination of the video. I’ll say it over and over again, so you won’t even have to guess-
Non-humans are not property. They are not a commodity. Non-humans are not property. They are not a commodity. Non-humans are not property. They are not a commodity. Non-humans are not property. They are not a commodity.
Compassion, that’s my motivation.
Iris, one who made it out alive
Abuse is never okay
If one person is unkind to an animal it is considered to be cruelty. Where many people are unkind to animals, especially in the name of commerce, the cruelty is condoned and, once large sums of money are at stake, will be defended to the last by otherwise intelligent people. ~Ruth Harrison, author of Animal Machines
Every year, approximately 50 Billion (that’s billion with a “B”) domesticated land animals are slaughtered for food worldwide. That’s roughly 1,680 sentient lives lost every second.
Meanwhile people are outraged that the cute animals are dying.
For the record, I am outraged at the following examples of animal cruelty. But I am no more or less outraged at the death of a cat than I am the death of a cow- they are both heinous.
Cat owners warned to be “on their guard” after 11 cats were poisoned with anti-freeze in a two week period. All eleven cats were killed or put down after swallowing the deadly chemical. Rachel Walker-Higgins, 31, whose cat Garfield was poisoned said:
It seems deliberate. I can’t understand why somebody would do this, it’s awful. I’ve been out and put up posters to make people aware of what’s happened, and warn them to keep their cats indoors.
Then, this guy:
Tyler Weinman faces 19 felony counts of animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal's body, and four counts of burglary Photo: SPLASH
Tyler Weinman, 19, was arrested (in June 2009) for the serial killings and dismemberment of cats- lots and lots of cats. Weinman faces 19 felony counts of animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal’s body, and four counts of burglary. Police believe he is behind the deaths of more than a dozen cats, their mutilated bodies discovered by horrified owners and local residents. His attorney at the time had this to say:
It’s trial by ambush,” Weinman’s attorney, David Macey, said. “It’s anything goes so that they can have a body, a warm body, to solve these cat killings. My heart and my sympathy goes out to the owners of these pets, but unfortunately, it won’t provide them any relief that Tyler’s in custody. Tyler is innocent.”
Fast forward to March 2010 – Weinman appeared in court last Wednesday for a status hearing where prosecutors said they’d be adding two additional charges of felony animal cruelty and improperly disposing of an animal body to the 19 charges he already faces- bringing the total to 21 charges all together. Weinman also faces four counts of burglary in connection to the animal slaughters. Weinman allegedly mutilated the cats, cut them into pieces, and left them on their owner’s doorsteps. Weinman has been out on bail (which was originally set at $249,500) and under house arrest since last June. He has been petitioning the judge to allow him out of house arrest to take tests on a college campus- and apparently it has worked. He is now permitted to leave to take the tests.
Aw, isn’t that nice? A teen accused of such heinous violence is permitted to go and take classes- even though there have been direct links between violence towards animals and violence towards humans.
And there’s more….so many that I could never list them all.
How can we continue to condemn one form of animal cruelty when we condone it for our dinner plates?
The time for evolution is now.