Animal Writings

When reading the following New York Times story, which discusses slaughterhouse abuse so severe you almost won't believe it, keep in mind the following:

1. This is not an isolated incident. Far from it. Horrible mistreatment of animals in slaughterhouses occurs every day, and has gone on for years. Not just in chicken plants, but in every type of intensive animal agriculture operation.


2. In all likelihood, KFC and Pilgrim's Pride Corporation, which owns the slaughterhouse, knew about the cruelty for a long time but did nothing about it. Animal rights activists have provided KFC and its suppliers with plenty of footage that shows chickens being violently abused, even tortured; the offending companies have typically responded with denials and/or attempts to discredit the whistleblowers.


3. The plant where the cruelty took place was recently the site of a KFC "Supplier of the Year" award ceremony.


4. Next time you hear the word "extremist" leveled at the animal rights movement, consider the extremism that goes on behind the walls of the slaughterhouse. In fact, extremism is built into the factory farm business model. Animal living conditions are extreme. So are slaughterhouse processing speeds. So is the pressure to keep the slaughterhouse line operating continuously.

Here's the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/20/business/20chicken.html. Non-members will need to fill out a quick, free registration.

I recommend clicking on the link to the video, to the right of the article, to fully grasp the impact of what happens to these innocent birds. One reason I want you to watch the video is that I hope doing so will seriously get you to thinking about replacing the chicken in your diet with cruelty-free alternatives, such as chicken substitutes from GardenBurger, Yves, and Tofurkey. They taste great.

Here's a related article, plus video, on the PETA site (no registration necessary): http://www.peta.org/feat/moorefield/.

One last thing. Were it not for undercover investigators from animal rights groups, the abuse of these animals would probably continue indefinitely. However, several bills currently in the U.S. Congress and state legislatures would brand such persons "terrorists." Which is amazing, since they were actually fighting terrorism — peacefully. For more information on the "Slaughterhouse Terrorism Protection Act," please read this piece by author John Robbins.