No Longer A Number
By Heather Leughmyer
An Animal Rights Poem from All-Creatures.org

No Longer A Number
By Heather Leughmyer

A tender ear punctured, a bright yellow tag
You are now number 151
Just another component of the dairy machine
A cog ‘til we say you are done.

You’ll generate babies - byproducts to us
We’ll take them the day they are born
Industry’s indifferent to heartbroken mothers
Money doesn’t care if you mourn.

You’ll produce what we need to live in our mansions
To pay for our luxury cars
Pain is your prison, you secretly suffer
Your misery safe behind bars.

You barely existed until one fateful day
Kindness freed you and gave you a name
Number 151 is now Lily
And your life is no longer the same.

You are somebody now, not just something
No longer a unit or part
Compassion knew you counted
Time promised to heal your heart.

To you it’s just a nightmare now
But for billions more it’s real
It’s business as usual:
Imprison, rape, and steal.

To the 152s and the 251s
To every number without a choice
I’ll never stop telling your stories
I’ll never stop being your voice.

Images from Anita Krajnc, TorontoPigSave.org