Many people want to believe that they bear no responsibility for
the cruelty animals suffer. I remember talking to an elderly woman
about the suffering that animals endure so that people can eat meat.
Right away, she said that she wasn’t the one doing the slaughtering.
In other words, she wasn’t culpable – as long as someone else was
doing the dirty work.
Where animals are concerned, it’s obvious that a lot of people are
willing to believe all sorts of lies in order to deny culpability for
any “unpleasantness.” The “humane farming” nonsense caters to these
people. Humane slaughter? How ridiculous! We just received in the mail a
list of businesses that claim to be “humane.” I could hardly believe my
eyes when I saw a listing for (believe it or not!) “humane veal”!! Is
that an oxymoron, or what?! Now, I’ve seen everything!
In my opinion, in terms of cruelty, the dairy business tops the list,
and veal production is part of it. Animals do not produce milk unless
they are impregnated. Veal calves are the result. These calves, stolen
from their mothers, are prevented from nursing, immobilized so that
their muscles won’t develop, and fed an iron-deficient gruel. The
emotional trauma of the mother and her baby are tremendous!
If I had to do it all over again, the first thing that I would stop
eating would be dairy products; and I would make very sure, by checking
ingredient lists, that nothing I bought contained whey, casein, or
anything else that was animal-derived. (I should also add that
health-wise, cutting out dairy products was probably the smartest thing
that I did during my journey toward adopting a vegan lifestyle.)
James 4:17 says:
17. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do,
and does not do it, to him it is sin.
~ New American Standard Bible
Maybe that’s why some people don’t want to know about any
“unpleasantness” concerning their support of businesses involving
animal-derived products, animal entertainment, biomedical research
utilizing animals, etc. – all of which cause horrendous pain and
suffering. At some level, these people must know or suspect that they
are contributing to this abuse.
