Anthology

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The Future of all Earth’s Animals

An Anthology of Animal Welfare Commentaries

Becky Berg , Tanasha Krull, Abbey Taubert

An Anthology of Animal Welfare Commentaries The Future of all Earth’s Animals

Authors: Becky Berg , Tanasha Krull, Abbey Taubert

Table of Contents

Introduction to Abbey Taubert’s “Treat Animals How You Would Want to be Treated” Page 1

“Treat Animals How You Would Want to be Treated” Abbey Taubert Pages 2-7

An in-depth article on Animal Consciousness that will leave you feeling well informed on animal ethical issues. Taubert leaves the reader questioning how animals are and should be treated.

Introduction to Tanasha Krull’s “When Production “Meats” Animals, Not All Goes Well” Page 8

“When Production “Meats” Animals, Not All Goes Well” Tanasha Krull Pages 9-14

Where your food comes from should and does matter. This is the topic of Krull’s commentary that will leave you researching the location of your food sources and how that meat came to be.

Introduction to Becky Berg’s “PETA’s Ideal Future: No Meat Consumption” Page 15

“PETA’s Ideal Future: No Meat Consumption” Becky Berg Pages 16-21

Berg explains PETA’s (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) idealistic future on everyone become vegetarians and maybe will give you enough reason to try today.

Conclusion to “The Future of all Earth’s Animals” Page 22

Works Cited for “The Future of all Earth’s Animals” Page 23

The Future of all Earth’s Animals 2010

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In Abbey Taubert’s commentary, Treat Animal’s Like You Would Like

to be Treated, she incorporates many ideas as to why animals have a

conscious. The anthology is opening up with this commentary in order to give

background into animal welfare as a whole. Readers will look into all of the

aspects as to why animals do have a conscious and why something needs to

be done to protect the animals as well as their rights. Later on readers will

explore deeper into specific aspects of animal welfare, including

vegetarianism and production farms. This commentary will help you with

your understandings when you later read PETA’s Ideal Future: No Meat

Consumption by Becky Berg and Tanasha Krull’s commentary When

Production “Meats” Animals, Not All Goes Well. By having a good

understanding on the aspects of animal consciousness you can get a deeper

grasp into the articles collected in the anthology.


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Treat Animals Like You Would Want to be Treated

By: Abbey Taubert

We all have some sort of knowledge or opinion on animal rights and an

animal’s consciousness with the debate sparking in the past few years, but do

most of us really know the truth behind what is actually happening? One

might find it hard to believe that animals can in fact have a conscious and

feelings. While others strongly support animals and want to give them full

rights just like humans. Is animal rights going to far? Do animals have a

conscious? Well, we all may have different opinions on this particular

controversial issue. In my opinion I feel as if we have taken animals rights to

the extreme and do not hesitate to think of the fact that animals might hold

emotions in the same way that us humans do. There are many recent medical

tests being done on animals as well as taking a deeper look into the minds of

different species of animals to see how they think, but the answer of whether

animals do have a conscious or not may be a hard one to grasp.

It is proven that animals in fact do have some type of conscious

observant to the human eye. Researchers have conducted many different

tests on animals ranging from as small as worms to as large as chimpanzees

(Kluger). There have been many tests done on larger scale animals that

support the evidence of animal consciousness. One of the most common types

of research done to these animals is the mirror test. Researches place the

animal, most commonly elephants, apes and dolphins, in front of a mirror

with something significantly different about the animal, such as a bracelet on

their wrist, or a mark on their forehead. With these changes the animal

immediately reacts to the difference made on their body. However when a

kitten sees itself in the mirror it reacts in a sense that it feels there is a

playmate on the other side. This supports that some animals can think and

can recognize the differences on themselves. This test however only appears

effective on certain animals and not all of them. The test does show that

animals are aware of their surroundings and changes. What comes in to

question here is how can anyone harmfully hurt an animal that thinks and

feels in a fairly same way that they think and feel?

Richard Louv wrote the book, “Last Child in the Woods”, and it defends

hunting and fishing. He believes that it is difficult to see that killing an

animal for sport shows reverence for the animal. He also stated that, “the

central question of whether fish feel pain depends on your definition on pain

and suffering,” (Crain). Crain did not believe that animals had a conscious

and could think and feel in a relevant way to humans. I find his viewpoints to


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be wrong. I think that it is possible to prove that fish and other animals are

experiencing suffering when you can clearly see them gasping for air as they

are wounded.

According to the thoughts of Professor Aubrey Manning he feels that

we should re-evaluate our view on animal cognition, also known as thinking.

He feels that animals do have a state of mind but it is in fact much simpler

than humans (Whipple). This is where the issue of being humane or not to

animals comes in to play. My idea of being inhumane towards animals would

be anything that would put the animal in harm or pain. In my opinion I feel

that the majority of animals should have the same rights as humans do. I feel

that animals shouldn’t be punished just because they can be. With more

research being conducted into animal consciousness I find that we as humans

will be remarkably surprised as to how close in nature animals actually are

to us.

Other ways that support animal consciousness are by doing direct

comparisons among humans and animals. One of the main ways this is done

is by looking at the brain size of animals in regard to their body size. Many of

us may be surprised of the results that came from this particular experiment.

The majority of humans would be quick to guess that humans would have the

largest brain in regard to their body size. Most would think that just because

humans are superior in the land we live and are dominant in the world today

would mean that they would have the largest brain of any given species.

However, this is definitely not the case. There have been recent studies done

that support this thought.

While you may think the human brain is big weighing approximately 3

pounds. Animals such as the dolphin or killer whale are equipped with

significantly larger brains in regard to their body size. What’s even more

surprising is that the brain of an Etruscan shrew ways 0.1 grams which, in

accordance to its tiny body is larger than humans. This study rules out that

just because humans have a large brain does not make them smarter, or

more conscious than other species around the world (Kluger). Humans tend

to be dominant in thinking they can conquer anything while animals are just

steps on the road. However there still needs to be more evidence that proves

to the non-believers that animals have feelings and emotion. Just because

they have a significantly larger brain does not mean they function exactly

like humans do or have the same intelligence. There needs to be more

research done to test animals intelligence in regards to their brain size.

However this finding may be a step in the right direction to support the


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evidence that animals do have consciousness. With further research we can

prove that this is true and help support animals and their rights.

Another way promoting animal consciousness is looks into the way animals

react to one another. It is proven fact that there are cultural traditions

among various species of animals. With habits being passed down from one

generation to the next this proves that animals contain some sort of

knowledge. Researchers have also found that there is evidence of animal

imitation-mimicracy (Helton). This has helped researchers find that animals

are able to obtain social learning, in the sense that they are trying to find a

way for animals to communicate with them. These findings are just another

step that help support people in their beliefs that animals do have a

conscious. I find that with all of this evidence it should help support that

animals should not be treated unethically.

Recent scientists have refused to conduct more research regarding

animal consciousness. They find that it is impossible to obtain objective

evidence without subjective experiences (Griffin). I find that this statement is

not a good reason for why research shouldn’t be conducted. I feel that animals

are living, breathing organisms and should get just the same amount of

treatment and research as humans do. There are also people in the world

who do not believe in animal consciousness solely because the Bible states

that humans are dominant over everything. I find this to be somewhat true,

we as humans can’t let animals take over but we can limit the ways we

unethically treatment. I feel that more needs to be done in order to dig deeper

into the meaning of animal consciousness.

Some scientists believe that even though animals often are able to

know simple facts, they do knot know that they know (Kluger). We know this

because as humans we assume that the animals know something because

they can use human language to express distinction. Many animals brought

up by humans can understand them in a sense. We can teach a dog to sit,

stay, and shake or anything that we may want to do. However, the animal

cannot speak back in a language we would comprehend; yet they may

understand exactly what we are telling them to do. This research concludes

that animals think consciously about what is asked of them to do when they

face these types of experiments.

Animal testing sometimes is done for the use of testing personal care

products. I do not agree with this type of testing. This causes pain to the

animals and can cause permanent damage, or even death. There should be

different ways for manufacturers to test their products to see if they are

effective for people. I find testing these products on animals to be unethical


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and bad for the animals, just because they have no say in what is going on to

them doesn’t mean the can’t feel the pain that these people are putting onto

them.

Even though there are many reasons why animal rights should be

considered in the unethical treatment of animals, there is one exception

where I feel it should be allowed and that is in medical research. Even

though the research may be slightly harmful to animals I feel that in the long

run it could help our society out greatly. With the advances in medicine we

could help cure very serious diseases that will not damage our society. By

curing a disease as deadly as cancer by testing on lab animals I find that the

cure for cancer is the greater priority of the two. Yes, there may be negative

effects on the animal but in the long run the curing of cancer will get us

farther in the world.

Some people may also believe that because we live in a world of

natural selection the treatment of animals is ethical. People may believe that

it is necessary for them to survive by eating meat coming from animals; in

some countries this is a necessity for survival. I find that in these extreme

situations unethical treatment of animals is ok and their consciousness

should not be considered. Although from these minor factors that support

animal consciousness I feel that this is not enough for us to think of the

animals before we do something cruel to them.

Overall I believe that we humans should treat animals as if they are

one of us. Being an avid animal lover and owner I find it easy to become

emotionally attached to these organisms. When you live and take care of an

animal for a significant amount of time you start to believe that they are one

of you or are part of your family. If people would take the time to consider the

needs of the animals and think about how alike they are to humans they

might think twice before harming them. There are a large number of

particular research methods that have been done that support this idea that

animals in fact do have a conscious. I think that people need to take a step

back before they harm animals. They need to stop and think about if what

they were doing to the animals, whether or not they would allow it to be done

to themselves.

If we take a look at the facts on animal consciousness we can see that

there is more that needs to be done to fully get something to be taken into

action. However, with all of the research to be done I find it easy to prove

that there is some type of animal consciousness and I feel people need to be

more aware so we can put an end to this inhumane practice. What if you were

put in the position of the animals being treated unethically and couldn’t voice


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your opinion. Would you be ok with researches testing many different

practices on you? I’m guessing for most of you the answer would be, no. Why

then do we not doing anything to protect the animals that are getting treated

wrong even though research shows that they may know exactly what is going

on?

All of the research being done is just another step in the right direction

to prove that animals have a conscious. When we do tests such as the mirror-

test showing that animals can recognize themselves and whom they are but

cannot verbally reach out to us why do we keep harming them? There are

many unanswered questions to this topic but with further research and

studies more could be found out on animal consciousness. With the exception

of medical testing on animals I find the unethical treatment of them to be

wrong. We as humans need to dig deeper into this matter and try to get a

change so that innocent animals will have a chance to survive in the future.


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Reference Page

Crain, William. “Animal Suffering: Learning Not to Care and Not to Know”

Encounter Summer 2009. A22. Print.

Griffin, Donald. Speck, Gayle. “New Evidence of Animal Consciousness” 28

Nov 2002. Print

Helton, William. “Animal Expertise, Conscious or Not”. Apr 2005: A8. Print

Kluger, Jeffrey. “Inside the Minds of Animals” Time 19 Aug 2010:A176.Print

Whipple, Tom. “SO WHY THE LONG FACE?; Do animals really have

emotions? And what are the consequences if they do?” The Times 2

Sept. 2006: A26. Print.


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Factory Farming has become a major part of the food industry and

with this new method comes some advantages but also includes some not so

great disadvantages. Tanasha Krull covers these hindrances and her

interpretation of this new animal production process in her paper, When

Production “Meats” Animals, Not All Goes Well. The article reaches back and

draws from Taubert’s article by discussing animal ethics, but moves forward

by talking about modern times and how factory farming is wrong ethically

and even economically. The topic of overall animal welfare becomes more

intense as the author of this article incorporates individual species, their

treatment, and how you can help. Taubert made prominent how animals

have a conscious and Krull helps you to see that these misconducts are

occurring in the production of your food.


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When Production “Meats” Animals, Not All Goes Well

By: Tanasha Krull

Walking through the grocery story, many people fail to recognize

where their food comes from. The apples are from central Michigan, the

oranges form an orchard in Florida, the vegetables might be from a local

farmer and the chickens from a factory farm in Iowa. Wait, a factory farm?

Many people ask, “What is that?” They say, “I’ve heard many people

complaining about those, but why?” “Are they bad for some reason?” These

are questions that, when brought up in conversation, are tough to answer.

Factory farms are also known as “confined animal feeding operations” or

“intensive livestock operations” (Williams 3). They are seen as a bad thing

ethically due to the harm brought upon the animals raised there and the way

each animal is treated. However, it does have some economic benefits but

these benefits don’t make up for its downfall in all other aspects. It’s wrong

both morally and ethically and has a negative effect not only on animals, but

on humans and the environment, too.

Temple Grandin, a famous autistic woman whose known for her work

in animal production, once said that, “Nature is cruel, but we don’t have to

be” (Grandin). In this statement she was talking about the way

slaughterhouses are run. From the beginning to end, cattle are being treated

like they feel no pain and all of the things being done to them affect the way

they perform as animals. If an animal is overly stressed, they don’t produce

as well because stress inhibits growth, digestion, reproduction, and other

biological functions. An animal becomes stressed by outside factors that

humans don’t understand. An animal, specifically cattle, have a flight zone.

This zone is a circle around the animal and that space is their safe zone. If a

human were to enter this circle, the animal shies away and becomes spooked

causing panic and stress. In a factory farm, there are many procedures done

to each production animal that causes them other types of stress. In the

cattle industry, they may be put through a “dip”. This procedure requires the

cattle to be shoved through a chute, forced into a chemical bath to rid any

insects on them, and then pushed back through another chute out into the

open space. Some cattle become injured in this process and others even drown

(Grandin). This treatment and others like it give factory farming its bad

name. It shows how they need to improve on the moral value in their

facilities and strive to find better ways to work their animals.


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Rose Zuzworsky writes about factory farms in her essay, From the

Marketplace to the Dinner Plate: The Economy, Theology, and Factory

Farming. In this essay she writes about “the reality of factory farming”. Her

belief is that the word “factory” often gives people a negative feel for such a

farm that produces an abundance of livestock and I agree; however, I also

believe that this negative affect is needed since each animal is treated like it

belongs as a piece in a factory (Zuzworksy, 2). Each animal goes through a

series of steps until it reaches the end of its production line and all along the

way something is done to it. Once a chicken is born, it’s de-beaked without

anesthesia and placed into a crowded room for the remainder of its life

(Zuzworksy 178). Here each

chicken will be given

several shots and one of

them is a growth hormone

shot. This shot has been

known to decrease a

chicken’s production time

from sixteen weeks to nine

weeks and since the poultry

animals are being produced

at a much faster rate, their

bones can’t keep up with

their body and due to weight gain being so rapid. Once this happens the

stress on the bones builds and some chickens even break a leg. But these

shots aren’t only negative to the animals, they are also putting harmful

chemicals and steroids into the meat that will ultimately be consumed by

people. This is one of many negative effects factory farms have on people.

Another issue, noted by Nancy Williams in her article, Affected

Ignorance and Animal Suffering: Why our Failure to Debate Factory Farming

Puts Us at Moral Risk, she brings about people’s “affected ignorance”

meaning that a person will choose to disregard the examination of something

that they think would make them immoral. For instance, in this case, people

often choose to overlook where all of their food comes from because if they

were to discover it was humanitarianly incorrect, they would feel like they

were doing something immoral and wrong (Williams 1). This is another

negative effect factory farming has on people. It makes humans feel as if they

are doing something unethical and ultimately some even stop consuming

meat. This shouldn’t be the case. As Temple Grandin states in the movie,

Temple Grandin, "If we didn't eat them (cattle) we wouldn't even have cattle,

This picture shows an example of a poultry factory farm. As you can see in the picture, the chickens are very crowded and it would be very hard for them to get to the feed and water. (Sayre 1).


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they'd just be funny looking animals in the zoo" (Grandin). Here she is saying

that eating meat is a good thing, it keeps the population of animal species

down and gives people a source of nutrients; however, she goes on to saying

that, “We've got to give those animals a decent life and we've got to give them

a painless death. We owe the animal respect" (Grandin).

Another side to factory farming is the economical side. The ability to

produce a lot of meat for consumption using as little space, feed, and time as

possible. Factory farming tries to allocate, or set aside and keep, as many of

these resources possible so that they can produce as much profit as possible.

Sure, such farming practices have their benefits. According to Gene Hall in

his article, Factory Farms Not so Bad After All, Americans spend on average

less than 10 percent of their income to feed themselves. The “factory farms”

can produce a generally safe and healthy product that almost anyone can

afford. He also says that factory farms create about 20 percent of the jobs in

the United States (Hall 2). The opposing side, Rose Zuzworsky writes about

“the economics of factory farming” as well and here she analyzes that factory

farms aren’t all as productive as they could be (Zuzworsky 179). A farmer

takes out huge loans to start his farming operation and get all of the

equipment necessary to begin and then he puts money into antibiotics and

buildings to confine the animals, which makes his profit to start at a huge

loss. It will take a person starting a factory farm many years to compensate

for all that they took out in loans.

Another aspect economically is that factory farms take away from the

original ranching method. Most of us can remember singing the song, “Ole

McDonald had a farm” and in this song there are many different animals

being raised on one farm and the farm didn’t produce an overwhelming

amount of animals. Maybe my views are too old fashioned, but I believe that

the most effective way to keep ranchers in business is not for one to produce

the entirety of consumption animal needed for a single species, but for many

individual ranchers to own an amount they can handle on their ranch and

effectively take care of so that when combined we have the needed amount of

meat for human consumption.

The amount of health risks factory farming includes is also of extreme

importance when thinking about negative effects factory farming entails.

Approximately two-thirds of the 1,400 known human pathogens are thought

to have originated in animals. According to Laura Sayre, there are five

microbes linked directly to factory farming; Campylobacter, MRSA:

Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, E. coli 0157:H7, and Enterococcus. All of

these diseases are harmful to humans and some of them are even deadly


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(Sayre 2). Factory farming increases the likelihood of these diseases

spreading worldwide not only because on a factory farm all of the animals are

so crowded, but also because of the transportation. No longer does there need

to be a ranch nearby to produce the meat needed for consumption if we can

ship it not only to a neighboring state, but also overseas and between

countries. The spread of the disease increases with the more animals you put

in one area and the further you take them from their originating point.

Another negative effect factory farming has on humans is the toll it

takes on the environment. Laura Sayre tells us how factory farms are

breeding grounds for infectious diseases. These diseases can spread not just

through our food, but in the water, air, and in the bodies of farmers, farm

workers and their families. Once they are spread in the environment, it is

very difficult to get rid of them. Smell and water pollution caused by

concentrated manure is also another negative effect that Sayre points out

(Sayre 1). Sure, these concerns occur whether we produce these animals on a

large scale or not, but with a smaller operation the animals are less

concentrated. The healthy are able to avoid the sick and weak and the

disease won’t spread, at least not as fast as in a heard that is crowded

together. It’s easier to spot a problematic animal and treat it, as well as

manage manure when the number of animals is slightly lessened. The smell

even weakens when there are fewer animals.

But what can be done about factory farming? Since human population

is growing exponentially and there is constantly a need for more food to be

consumed. How can we effectively produce enough animals to meet market

need if we don’t use such methods? I am not saying that these methods

should not be used, but I am saying that they need to be improved upon.

Things that could be looked into and researched are ways to minimize

antibiotic use and also try to find alternative management strategies. Factory

Farms could improve on the way they run their animals through corrals,

using improved gating strategies that help calm the animals.

Ultimately, factory farming methods need to be improved upon

because their negative effects are not only on animals but on humans, too.

Animal production practices shouldn’t include confining many animals in one

space. They shouldn’t come with such a high risk of spreading infectious

diseases and harming the food industry in such a large way. One factory farm

is the difference of us paying more or less for food which directly correlates

with the economy. Sure, the economy benefits in the short term by having a

factory farm producing a large quantity of food for many people causing the

price to be low, but if that factory farm shuts down for any reason, the


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consequences can be tremendous to the prices we pay at grocery stores for

food. The next time you visit the grocery store, think about where your food

comes from. Read the label on the chicken and see if it says “antibiotic free”.

If it doesn’t, think about the correlation of buying that product and

supporting the farm that produced that animal. Consumers need to start

overcoming their ignorance and pay attention to what’s going on in the world

around them. If buyers start to voice their opinions, perhaps the factory

farms will change their practices to produce animals that are raised ethically

and not put through more pain than need be necessary.


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Reference Page

Grandin, Temple, Script. Temple Grandin. Dir. Jackson, Mick." Perf. Danes,

Claire. HBO Film: 2010, Film.

Sayre, Laura. "The Hidden Link Between Factory Farms and Human

Illness." Mother Earth News 232 (2009): 76. MasterFILE Premier.

EBSCO. Web. 17 Oct. 2010. Journal of Agricultural and

Environmental Ethics. 21.4 (2008): 371-384. Online.

Williams, Nancy. "Affected Ignorance And Animal Suffering: Why Our

Failure To Debate Factory Farming Puts Us At Moral Risk." Journal

of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 21.4 (2008): 371-384. E-

Journals. EBSCO. Web. 24 Oct. 2010.

Zuzworsky, Rose. "From the Marketplace to the Dinner Plate: The Economy,

Theology, and Factory Farming." Journal of Business Ethics 29.1/2

(2001): 177-188. EBSCO MegaFILE. EBSCO. Web. 17 Oct. 2010.


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Becky Berg’s commentary, PETA’s Ideal future: No Meat Consumption

relates vegetarianism to PETA. The point that is being made is that animals

are treated very poorly in the process of being slaughtered and how it affects

many people’s views on the consumption of meat. PETA is an organization

that believes strongly in equal rights of animals. Vegetarianism goes along

with that idea as well. This is so because members of PETA do not eat meat

or use anything that is an animal product in which animals were harmed.

The reason this commentary is related to the others is that it covers both the

idea of factory farms and animals consciousness. It does so by stating that

most factory farms treat animals poorly which then relates to animal

consciousness.


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PETA’s Ideal Future: No Meat Consumption

By: Becky Berg

In America most people buy their food at the grocery store without

knowing where it actually comes from. One of the biggest concerns people

should have about the food that they consume is how it was produced,

especially the meats they eat. What people do not realize is the way the

animals are treated in the process. This is where PETA comes in. PETA is an

organization that believes very strongly that animals should be treated with

more care and kindness. PETA’s ideal future would involve equal treatment

of animals as humans but more importantly they would like more people to at

least try vegetarianism. I believe PETA has a huge influence on peoples’

views about vegetarianism in one way or another. As for me, I watched a

documentary called Food Inc. that changed my views on the food I eat

completely.

First of all, I should mention what PETA means. PETA is an acronym

that stands for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. In other

words, members of this organization believe that animals should be treated

as equals to humans. This is why PETA strongly urges vegetarianism to

many. One of the main focuses I have noticed in today’s society is the strong

influence PETA has on vegetarians. As an organization, PETA protests for a

lot of different reasons including not wearing fur clothing and how poorly

animals can be treated in slaughterhouses. Many PETA employees go

undercover in these factories to get the inside scoop of the sad reality of how

cruel the slaughterhouses actually are to these innocent animals (Welch). So

now do you wonder what goes on in these slaughterhouses?

The process of meat production starts with animals being raised in a

factory farm then they are taken to slaughterhouses to be butchered.

Eventually packaged meat ends up in our grocery stores. Almost all meat you

find in a grocery store is produced in a factory by one of the top meat

producing companies in America such as Tyson or Smithfield (Don’t Let Big

Meat Slaughter the Packer Ban). These companies hire small farmers to

raise animals as if they are food producing machines (Vegetarian 101). The

animals on these farms are all packed into tight spaces, sitting in their own

waste, and in some cases have never seen sunlight. Not only are animals

treated poorly on farms, but also in the slaughterhouses where they are

butchered. Some of the processes that the slaughterhouse workers’ perform

are grueling. To save money the slaughterhouses use no pain medication or

anesthetic while performing tasks such as castrating, branding, and tail


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docking (Welch). No animals should be treated in this way, it is wrong and I

believe it can be changed with the help of PETA’s actions.

PETA advocates vegetarianism in many different ways. They have

protested against many different restaurants such as McDonalds and

Kentucky Fried Chicken regarding problems with the way they treat chicken

in the factories and the amount of chicken each uses yearly. McDonalds

treats their birds like they are not living at all. Birds are thrown into

transport crates and then hung by their feet with metal shackles. This can

cause broken bones, extreme bruising, and even hemorrhaging. Factory

workers often end up cutting the birds’ throats and throwing them in

extremely hot water while they are still conscious and able to feel pain (Help

Stop McDonald’s Cruelty Now!). As one can see, this system is clearly not

working because many innocent animals are being harmed in the process.

Kentucky Fried Chicken has a new sandwich called the double down. This

sandwich replaces the bread with chicken (An Egg a Day Keeps the

Doctor…Wealthy). The double down uses an excessive amount of chicken for

one sandwich which I think is very unnecessary. I believe that PETA is

fighting for a good cause by trying to stop the habits many fast food

restaurants are using to kill animals in factories. As a result, PETA is not

willing to give up the fight for all to become vegetarians and for the equal

rights of animals.

So what exactly is a vegetarian? In general a vegetarian is one who

does not eat meat. I believe vegetarianism is a good thing to try and with

more supporters of this cause, the fight to stop animal cruelty would be much

easier. One way to start the journey of becoming a vegetarian is to cut bird

flesh from your diet first. This is a good idea because it saves more animals

since chickens are so commonly used as meat and for their eggs. Chickens are

very small and produce less meat so therefore one cow can feed many more

people than one chicken could. For that reason more chickens are needed to

meet the need of the consumers who eat chicken (Vegetarian 101). That is

why I feel PETA has a lot to do with the increase of vegetarianism.

It is shown that more ethical ways that would cause animals less harm

is not more expensive than the ways they are using today. Although the

process would be much slower, animals could be raised in a more normal

environment and be caused less harm. The down side is that these big meat

companies would be losing money because animals would not be grown to full

size as quickly. Most farms today feed animals corn and other genetically

enhanced crops to help the animals grow quicker (Farrow). But I believe in

the long run the best thing for everyone would be to have animals be raised


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in a natural environment. This would satisfy PETA by treating animals with

respect and would be healthier to all. By this I mean that there would be less

chance of spreading disease amoung the meat we eat and overall less harm to

the animals.

PETA is linked to vegetarianism in a few ways. The PETA

organization believes strongly that even cutting out certain meats from your

diet like chicken makes the biggest difference. Because of all the advocating

PETA does for vegetarianism many people have been affected. Just seeing

pictures taken at meat factories could change peoples’ diet from eating meat

to no longer doing so. At least for me, by researching factories that treat

animals in this way and also by seeing unruly pictures just makes me sick.

This organization has a lot of evidence to back up its claim that states

animals are treated very poorly. However, some people would not want to see

pictures of where their meat comes from because they would rather not know

how meat is made. Even though they may find the pictures disturbing, they

still do not care how the animals are treated as long as they can still buy

their meat from the grocery store.

In my opinion, I believe PETA has a lot to do with the increase of

vegetarians. The way animals are treated in slaughterhouses is unbelievable

to me. After researching and seeing pictures of animals treated poorly

definitely makes me consider becoming a vegetarian. Although I agree with

PETA with the fact that animals should be treated better I also think PETA

is too extreme in some ways. Members of PETA do not believe in eating eggs,

milk, or cheese as well as meat. I can see how eggs could be considered bad

because in the process many chickens are killed. What I do not understand is

the problem with eating dairy products that usually come from cows. Cows

are not being killed in the process of being used for milk. Although one of the

reasons PETA does not believe in drinking milk could be the way the cows

are treated during the milking process. Many cows are kept in barns to be

milked and do not get the treatment they should. You could almost say they

are milking machines. Basically, PETA does not believe in drinking milk

mainly for the reason that cows are being harmed in the process but not

necessarily killed. Another option to prevent this is that if animals were

treated better in factories and were slaughtered in safer ways it would not be

as big of an issue. One way to kill animals especially birds in a less harmful

way is called controlled-atmospheric killing. Controller-atmospheric killing or

CAK is where oxygen is removed from the birds’ atmosphere when birds are

still in their transport crates (Controlled atmosphere killing). I feel that CAK

would be very beneficial to the health and safety of the animals. This could be


19

the solution to create an equal medium between vegetarians and meat eaters.

By having meat no longer be a part of the food chain, there would eventually

be a shortage of food supply.

The reason I chose to write about this topic is because of the influence

of a documentary I saw called Food Inc. This documentation went behind the

scenes of what really happens in factories and describes how meat companies

have become so powerful in America. In the movie there is a quote that I

found to be very true. In the movie it was stated that “the industry doesn’t

want you to know the truth about what you’re eating, because if you know

you might not want to eat it” (Food Inc.). After watching Food Inc., I stopped

eating hamburger for four months. The way that most factories butcher and

ground the beef used for hamburger is very unsanitary. There have been

many cases of E. coli found from eating hamburger and other meats. This is

my personal experience in which Food Inc. had a huge affect on me. Therefore

PETA is not the only thing that can affect one’s views about meat. This

documentary has a very powerful message and I am sure that I am not the

only person to change their eating habits after watching it.

People may also become vegetarians because of their own beliefs or

health reasons. Studies show that people who consume less meat are less

likely to get cancer, cardiovascular disease, and even diabetes (Planning a

healthy vegetarian diet). A vegetarian diet contains a lot of fiber and is

generally lower in fat and cholesterol. Most vegetarian meals consist of a lot

of grains, vegetables, legumes, and fruit (Webb). Therefore a vegetarian diet

is very healthy and could be beneficial to many. Another reason one might be

a vegetarian is because of their love for animals. Some people could never see

themselves eating animals because they own pets of their own and would feel

wrong doing so.

Ultimately, becoming a vegetarian is done by choice, but many people

are influenced by PETA in one way or another. I believe PETA is right when

they say that animals are treated poorly on factory farms and in

slaughterhouses. There are less painful approaches to killing animals that

would make PETA more satisfied, although their ideal situation would be for

many people to become vegetarians. PETA does not state that everyone in

the world should become a vegetarian but rather fewer animals would be

harmed if more people stopped eating meat. One thing that can be done to

make a happy medium between PETA supporters and meat lovers would be

to improve the treatment of animals. Things could be improved in every

aspect from raising the animals to having them slaughtered. Many people

have become vegetarians because of the way animals are treated so maybe if


20

the methods for slaughtering were changed then vegetarians might change

the way they feel about eating meat as well.


21

Reference Page

“An Egg a Day Keeps the Doctor…Wealthy.” The PETA Flies. Peta.org. 3

. 2010.

“Controlled atmosphere killing.” Green Living Tips. 2010.

“Don’t Let Big Meat Slaughter the Packer Ban.” Grist.org.

Farrow, Kenyon. “Held the Crisis: Stop Feeding Cows Corn!” Kenyon Farrow.

Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

Food Inc. Dir. Robert Kenner. River Road Entertainment, 2008. Film.

“Help Stop McDonald’s Cruelty Now!” Take Action. 2010. PETA.org. 9

Nov. 2010.

“Planning a Healthy Vegetarian Diet.” World Book Science Year. 01 Aug.

2009. eLibrary. 17 Oct. 2010.

“Vegetarian 101.” People For The Ethical Treatment of Animal. 17 Oct. 2010.

Peta.org.

Webb, Robyn. “Go Meatless.” Diabetes Forecast. 01 Jun. 2006. eLibrary. 17

Oct. 2010.

Welch, Aimee. “Fur flies in PETA’s fight for animals.” Insight on the News. 17

Jul. eLibrary. 17 Oct. 2010.


22

In conclusion, Abbey Taubert, Tanasha Krull, and Becky Berg have

well incorporated their similar viewpoints to create a compilation of work on

animal welfare. Taubert brought to life the issue of animal consciousness and

how animals are being treated inhumanely. She informs each of us that

animals do have a compatible intelligence to humans and that their ability to

feel is almost equivalent. Krull took this one step further, incorporating

Taubert’s beliefs and building off animal treatment into a factory setting. She

talked about affected ignorance and how people don’t want to know where

their food is coming from because if they did they might feel guilty. Berg

finally sheds light on how each person can help, whether it goes back to Krull

asking people to take into account where your food is coming from and

support your local ranchers rather than factory farms, or becoming a

vegetarian like PETA’s ideal future would entail, Berg believe that something

should be done and that we should all deliberate on our food.

After reading each of these interpretations, the reader should be left

with a better understanding of animals in today’s society, how they are being

treated, and what they can do to help. Taubert, Krull, and Berg were all

searching for possible ways to eliminate the amount of suffering put forth

onto animals, and hope that each person who reads their collation of writing

will consider what they have to offer. Will you be the one who makes a

difference and helps improve animal welfare, or will you just sit by eating

your food now knowing that an animal might have suffered for you to be so

fulfilled?

As a reader, you may doubt your ability to make a difference. You

ponder how one person changing their purchasing power or eating habits can

change production as a whole? Now consider this, if you changed your

behaviors because you thought it would make the difference for one animal

and I do the same and everyone else follows not knowing if it will affect

society as a whole, the eventual outcome would be everyone changing their

lifestyles and production become more about what the people want. You as a

consumer have the ability to voice your opinion. Don’t question your

capabilities or your neighbors, but rather do what you think is right. These

three authors voiced their concern and if all readers took action because they

no longer had affected ignorance and they knew what’s occurring in the

facilities and society is wrong, animal welfare, the well-being of all animals,

would increase. The future of all Earth’s animals lies in our hands, what will

you chose to do?


23

Works Cited

Cover Page Images (Starting top left and going clockwise):

You are What You Eat. Web. 5 Dec 2010.

<http://seventrees.blogspot.com/2007/08/you-are-what-you-eat.html>.

"No friends. No exercise. No toys. No comforts. No sun. No fresh air. Just cold

steel." Projects. Web. 5 Dec 2010. http://www.petlink-up.com/projects.htm.

Court orders tighter 'factory farm' rule. Web. 5 Dec 2010.

<http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/01/court_orders_tighter_f

actory_f.html>.

"Florida Chicken House." "Affordable Beef" comes from "Modern Agriculture".

Web. 5 Dec 2010. <http://www.vegansoapbox.com/affordable-beef-

comes-from-modern-agriculture/>.

http://www.petlink-up.com/projects.htm

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