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A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 


A Crime – 23 November 2007
By Mary T. Hoffman

I’m not exaggerating one bit when I say that the way turkeys, chickens, ducks and geese are treated is a crime. Everyone is outraged if one human is made to suffer a tiny fraction of the living hell that billions of domestic fowl go through routinely. And this criminal behavior that is accepted by society cannot be excused by claiming that poultry lack intelligence.

In “The Development of Brain and Behaviour in the Chicken” published in 1995, avian specialist Lesley Rogers wrote that “it is now clear that birds have cognitive capacities equivalent to those of mammals, even primates” and “the chicken is not an inferior species to be treated merely as a food source.”

Away from the commonplace present-day mechanical manipulation, exploitation and horrific abuse, turkey and chicken mothers exhibit a level of concern and care for their children that present a paradigm which human mothers would do well to follow. In laboratory studies, hens fed grains that made them ill not only avoid such grains in the future; they push their chicks away from the bad grains and lead them to the good ones.

Some humans would do well to show the restraint, self-control, and anticipation of the future that chickens exhibit in laboratory studies: They have learned not to peck at buttons that yield only a small number of grains in favor of waiting longer to peck at buttons that produce a large amount of food.

Laboratory findings prove that the widespread joint disease of farmed chickens forced to grow too fast causes life-long extreme pain. This is shown by the fact that when given a choice between food containing a pain reliever and food containing no pain reliever, lame chickens choose the medicated food.

Furthermore, studies show that chickens have excellent memories enabling them to recognize and remember more than 100 other chickens.

I’m glad Frank and I adopted a vegan (no animal products) lifestyle years ago, even before publication of scientific studies that are exposing the truth about the intelligence and sensitivity of other animals.

For more information about domestic fowl, read the Winter 2007 issue of Poultry Press and visit www.upc-online.org

Also visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/turkey.html
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/chicken.html
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/duck.html 

Go on to: Was It Worth It? – 24 November 2007
Return to: Giving Thanks and Being Blessed – 22 November 2007
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