The Mary T. and
Frank L. Hoffman
Family Foundation
and All-Creatures.Org

Letters and Responses

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 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.)

Reply from Frank and Mary Hoffman

Dear Jenny:

It's so nice to hear from you. You've been on our hearts.

Every time we publish a new poem, we think about when we're going to publish another one of yours.

Thank you very much for your comments and for sending us the letter.

In the Love of the Lord,

Frank and Mary