Moral Responsibility
"As long as there are slaughterhouses there will always be battlefields." - Leo Tolstoy
"As long as there are slaughterhouses there will always be battlefields." - Leo Tolstoy
A "Plant-based" or "Vegan" diet are labels to describe following a diet that favors "kindness to animals," or one that is "cruelty-free."
A "Plant-based" or "Vegan" diet are labels to describe following a diet that favors "kindness to animals," or one that is "cruelty-free."
When given two equally convenient, appetizing, satisfying, and healthful choices, we no doubt would choose the more compassionate option.
When given two equally convenient, appetizing, satisfying, and healthful choices, we no doubt would choose the more compassionate option.
One of the best and most exciting parts of embracing a Whole Food Plant-Based Diet is the incorporation of kindness and compassion into our dietary choices.
One of the best and most exciting parts of embracing a Whole Food Plant-Based Diet is the incorporation of kindness and compassion into our dietary choices.
No public education exists on food production, so we must learn it for ourselves. This video does a great job of addressing the reality of current food production systems without using scare tactics. It's important to remember compassion for ourselves as we acknowledge our collective misunderstanding of animal food systems and redress previous actions.
No public education exists on food production, so we must learn it for ourselves. This video does a great job of addressing the reality of current food production systems without using scare tactics. It's important to remember compassion for ourselves as we acknowledge our collective misunderstanding of animal food systems and redress previous actions.
Cows
Cows
Cows have complex social structures with strong familiar bonds. They form grooming partnerships and lick each other to remain calm in stressful situations. They love to jump and play even as they age :)
Cows have complex social structures with strong familiar bonds. They form grooming partnerships and lick each other to remain calm in stressful situations. They love to jump and play even as they age :)
People assume that milk production works like a wet nurse - cows continually produce milk so long as they're milked after giving birth once. This isn't true - cows must continually be impregnated and give birth to make milk, a cycle that occurs every year. Their calves are taken from them upon birth and if female, continue to be sexually exploited and eventually killed, or if male, slaughtered before maturation for veal.
People assume that milk production works like a wet nurse - cows continually produce milk so long as they're milked after giving birth once. This isn't true - cows must continually be impregnated and give birth to make milk, a cycle that occurs every year. Their calves are taken from them upon birth and if female, continue to be sexually exploited and eventually killed, or if male, slaughtered before maturation for veal.
The average natural lifespan for a cow could be as long as 25 years, but when a dairy cow's milk production declines around age 5, she, too, is slaughtered for meat.
The average natural lifespan for a cow could be as long as 25 years, but when a dairy cow's milk production declines around age 5, she, too, is slaughtered for meat.
Anytime humans are drinking milk from cows, it means a baby calf is not drinking their mother's natural secretions.
Anytime humans are drinking milk from cows, it means a baby calf is not drinking their mother's natural secretions.
From a scientific perspective, non-human animals have the same or almost identical areas of the brain involved in processing pain as we do. When they experience pain, they show behaviors similar to us, such as rocking back and forth, emitting distress calls, and changing the rate and depth of their breathing. Animals also experience emotional pain in suffering just like we do. Mother cows mourn the kidnapping of their babies by crying for hours, and many experience separation anxiety just like dogs show when their companion human leaves them on their own.
From a scientific perspective, non-human animals have the same or almost identical areas of the brain involved in processing pain as we do. When they experience pain, they show behaviors similar to us, such as rocking back and forth, emitting distress calls, and changing the rate and depth of their breathing. Animals also experience emotional pain in suffering just like we do. Mother cows mourn the kidnapping of their babies by crying for hours, and many experience separation anxiety just like dogs show when their companion human leaves them on their own.
Pigs
Pigs
An adult pig has the intelligence of a 3 year old human. They're said to be smarter than babies, can learn to play video games, and love toys!
An adult pig has the intelligence of a 3 year old human. They're said to be smarter than babies, can learn to play video games, and love toys!
Pigs connect with their young in the same way we connect with ours - they socialize constantly and even plays tricks on each other. They're highly intelligent and loving individuals.
Pigs connect with their young in the same way we connect with ours - they socialize constantly and even plays tricks on each other. They're highly intelligent and loving individuals.
This being said: It's not unfair to imagine a 3-year-old living a miserable life in a cage it can't turn around in surrounded by its own poop. They often develop mental issues as a result of improper development, and they die a horrible death all in the service of bacon or a pork chop.
This being said: It's not unfair to imagine a 3-year-old living a miserable life in a cage it can't turn around in surrounded by its own poop. They often develop mental issues as a result of improper development, and they die a horrible death all in the service of bacon or a pork chop.
If we love someone, we don't want them to be forcibly impregnated, tortured, murdered and eaten, and we especially would never pay for these things to happen to them. We dont want to see their murdered body parts on a plate in front of us. We don't want to eat their bodies and secretions.
If we love someone, we don't want them to be forcibly impregnated, tortured, murdered and eaten, and we especially would never pay for these things to happen to them. We dont want to see their murdered body parts on a plate in front of us. We don't want to eat their bodies and secretions.
Chickens
Chickens
Like these old biddies show here, chickens have strong individual personalities and form lasting friendships.
Chickens have a sense of time and can anticipate and plan for the future. They show more intelligence than cats and dogs when it comes to self-healing. They demonstrate empathy and can recognize stress in each other.
Chickens have a sense of time and can anticipate and plan for the future. They show more intelligence than cats and dogs when it comes to self-healing. They demonstrate empathy and can recognize stress in each other.
What about free-range?
What about free-range?
Unfortunately "Free-Range" is just a marketing label. Chickens are still raised in huge barns where the vast majority are denied access to fresh air and sunlight, not to mention the male chicks are still ground up alive and ultimately all of the hens still end up being slaughtered.
Unfortunately "Free-Range" is just a marketing label. Chickens are still raised in huge barns where the vast majority are denied access to fresh air and sunlight, not to mention the male chicks are still ground up alive and ultimately all of the hens still end up being slaughtered.
It doesn't matter what label is on the product or what treatment animals receive - if they are designed to be killed, exploited, or abused, there is no ethical humane way to raise them. The animal died in the same slaughterhouse using the same method as all the other animals.
It doesn't matter what label is on the product or what treatment animals receive - if they are designed to be killed, exploited, or abused, there is no ethical humane way to raise them. The animal died in the same slaughterhouse using the same method as all the other animals.
Humane slaughter is an oxymoron. We can never justify taking the life of an animal when they don't need to die, and therefore we can never do it benevolently.
Humane slaughter is an oxymoron. We can never justify taking the life of an animal when they don't need to die, and therefore we can never do it benevolently.
Fish
Fish
We know that fishes experience positive and negative emotional states and pass down cultural knowledge from generation to generation. Some species of fishes have memories that match or exceed other vertebrates!
We know that fishes experience positive and negative emotional states and pass down cultural knowledge from generation to generation. Some species of fishes have memories that match or exceed other vertebrates!
Fishes also have been scientifically proven to feel pain and have sensory neurons that are physiologically identical to humans. They play games and enjoy interaction!
Fishes also have been scientifically proven to feel pain and have sensory neurons that are physiologically identical to humans. They play games and enjoy interaction!
Not only is fishing taking trillions of individual lives, but impacts the entire aquatic ecosystems and our human water systems, as well. Farmed fish pens produce dense concentrations of manure that wash out into local aquatic ecosystems, causing dead zones in our rivers and oceans. In addition, fishes are given antibiotics to deal with bacteria concentration, which also wash out into local ecosystems.
Not only is fishing taking trillions of individual lives, but impacts the entire aquatic ecosystems and our human water systems, as well. Farmed fish pens produce dense concentrations of manure that wash out into local aquatic ecosystems, causing dead zones in our rivers and oceans. In addition, fishes are given antibiotics to deal with bacteria concentration, which also wash out into local ecosystems.
Helpful questions to aid in understanding:
Helpful questions to aid in understanding:
- Is it morally justifiable for someone to kill a dog if they like the taste?
- If we would hate to be exploited and killed, is it not hypocritical for us to exploit and kill others?
- Can you really be a loving human if you pay for animals to be hurt?
- Do you not think we require more than sensory pleasure alone to morally justify an action?
- If you don't have to eat meat then why do you do so? Are your tastebuds more important than a life?
- If we look back at history, there are many atrocities that were committed as "tradition," but does that justify them?
- Is female genital mutilation morally justifiable because it is a tradition?
- If being more intelligent than another gives us the right to be dominant, does that mean that anyone with a high IQ can do what they want to someone with a lower IQ? Or, does it mean we have a greater moral responsibility to do right by them?
- Would you suckle on the udders of a cow yourself?