I have two articles to share with you today, which might not seem related at first. But bear with me.

The first one, from MSNBC, was about three people who were keeping four mentally disabled adults chained up in a basement with only a jug of orange juice and some buckets to go to the bathroom in. Looking at the 200+ comments on the article, people were pretty outraged and disgusted at this crime, some saying the criminals should be treated the same way as they treated their victims.

Once upon a time, the mentally handicapped were not so well thought of in society, nor so well protected. Once upon a time, limits on a person’s mental functioning also meant limits on the worth of that person’s life. It’s wonderful to see that this is, for the most part, no longer the case. The acceptable viewpoint in society is that the mentally disabled are real people who deserve protection and love. Varying levels of intelligence have no real influence on our judgment of the worth of fellow human beings. We see what these criminals did as unacceptable, perhaps even more despicable because their victims were childlike and vulnerable. Exploiting the disabled for one’s own purposes is generally agreed to be wrong.

Will there be a time when the same can be said for animals? People justify exploiting animals because human beings have a higher intellectual capacity than other animals. Smart adult animals have about the same mental capacity as human children… probably roughly similar to what these adult victims have. Animals are vulnerable and childlike in many ways. But we see them as inferior because of having less mental capacity. So, it’s okay for us to lock them in concrete or steel enclosures for extended periods of time, letting them live in their own waste, without regard for their emotional health, without regard for their physical suffering. Because they’re not as smart as we are. And there’s money to be made off them.

Why is it different? Because we’re human, and they’re not? Is it just because we only look out for our own kind? How is that so different from saying it’s okay to enslave people of other races, because we’re white, and they’re not?

Well, some people get outraged when they see videos of abuse at meat, egg, and dairy farms… but they don’t believe that this sort of thing happens all the time. They think it’s just an isolated incident… they say the individual person beating the animal should be arrested, and this is often true, but there’s more going on than just one case of a single psychotic farm worker. They can’t see, or else choose to ignore the fact that it’s the industry itself which is encouraging this abuse. It’s the way we think about animals. As objects. As inferior because of intelligence, because of a different physical shape or color… or something.

I wish there were some way to open people’s eyes, and get them thinking. What is the difference, really?

The other thing I read today was a post from the Action for Animals newsfeed on my facebook page. As much as I dislike bringing up the Holocaust…. It talks about how some people didn’t want to believe that the concentration camps of the Holocaust were real, and that it was just individual, evil officers in isolated incidents of abuse. Looking back now, most people agree that the concentration camps were real, and that thousands of people died there, people who were seen as inferior. It was the way that people thought about the Jews, the mentally disabled, and other “Others” which brought about this black mark in history.

The beginnings of this kind of tragedy still live inside of all of us. Any time we think of another living being as inferior, as an object which can be disposed of at our whims, which has no inherent value in itself… we are echoing the root cause, the spirit of the Holocaust.

So I invite you to read it, and think about it. It’s not very long. Just think about it. What is the difference? Is there one?

The Article: We Can’t See The Truth Through Rose-Colored Glasses.

In some countries brown eggs are more popular, but in Canada, and the United States, white eggs are more popular, and people often assume that brown eggs mean the hens were free range, but this is not always true.

photo brown hens in battery cages.

The term “Free-Range” is confusing enough, with different areas allowing different meanings, and it may not even mean the birds go outside for much of the day. Other terms have cropped up, barn roaming now applies to birds that are kept indoors, but not caged all the time. Cage-free means that the birds are not enclosed in small cages. In the US the term “free range” can apply if the birds are allowed outside only for a short time, but most people are given to assume it applies to birds that are outside for the day. We should note that even most farmers put hens indoors for roosting at night.

Authors hens.

These birds in large egg production farms are fed a ration, and rarely eat grass, or anything other than their specific ration, this applies even if they are labeled “free range”. If you took a few hens from these situations and gave them a different diet, one that included natural foods, the shell of the egg stays the same color, but the yolk is usually darker. As such you may find eggs from farmers markets contain darker yolks, or light ones, depending on the diet of the bird. In fact most factory farms add yellow dye to the diet of hens to try to make the yolks a bit darker.

Although what determines eggs color is more complicated then this, generally white hens lay white eggs and brown hens lay brown eggs. A person should never assume that the hen was treated humanely or fed well, but the look of the egg, it is the yolk which can be a determining factor, darker yolks tend to come from “real” free range birds, ones where the owner lets the birds out in the day.

Again – note that free range generally does not always mean that hens are kept loose in the way I keep mine, sometimes they are just loose in a crowded barn.  If you want cruelty free eggs, look for ones from a farmer you know and trust, or ones labeled “Organic“.  Since the birds are on a better diet, the eggs from them are better for you to eat, and you know you have not contributed to cruelty.

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It is the rearing of animals like cattle, poultry and other farm animals in closed buildings. The animals do not have space to move about. They are not left out to graze. The animals are treated cruelly and are numbered instead of named. These animals are given high doses of antibiotic injections which are harmful also for the people who consume the dairy products.

The animal waste is a huge problem. Lack of space leads to improper disposal and thus causes diseases like swine flu, bird flu, etc;. Transportation between farms can cause diseases to spread easily. In the past few years, so many people have died due to these diseases which are actually brought about by inhuman practices.

People should try to buy local farm produce or grow their own poultry if it is possible. People can also demand products which are grown on natural farms. It may be costly, but at least the health will not be at stake.

Know your Cause

Suppose I want to educate people on why chickens should be allowed as pets in a city. I need to know all problems associated with keeping chickens, ways around those problems, which breeds are best, and tips on how to actually keep chickens as pets. It is also a good idea to know why laws are in place the other way.

Timing is Helpful

Although there may not always be a news story you can leapfrog your letter off of, if something does come up then you should use it and get your letter out right away. For example there was a time when my local newspaper ran a story about a dog who had been lost and turned up a year later in good condition. I used this to write about how it is important to have your pet wear identification, and that if you find a pet you need to report it to the animal shelter rather than assuming it was unwanted, because clearly somebody had been caring for the dog for the year it was missing.

Image by garlandcannon via Flickr

Keep it Simple

Short letters, but ones that are clear and to the point, stand the best chance of getting published. If you ramble on too long chances are your letter will not get published. Four paragraphs should be enough in most cases, sometimes three is fine. Most newspapers actually print guidelines for how to write a letter, including a word maximum.

Your first paragraph needs to explain the issue, your second needs to get more involved, as does your third, and your fourth needs to wrap it up and tell people what they can do further, such as telling them who to write to in order to effect a change in the laws.

Be Professional

Newspapers require you to include your name, address, and phone number, although they only print your name. You can request your name be withheld if dealing with a sensitive issue in which you are concerned about retaliation.

Do not make personal attacks and do not slander. Use proper grammar and maybe have somebody else proof read your letter to be sure they understand it before it goes to print and is at the risk of being misunderstood.

If you are too extreme in your letter it will turn people off and they will not support your activist cause and may not even have your letter published at all by the newspaper.

Read the Newspapers

After your letter has been published follow be aware that others might write letters stating their view and opinion. You can write again “in response to” and hope the newspaper prints your follow up letter, but keep it short and address only the points mentioned. Getting into a fight with another reader/writer is generally not a good idea and will not help your cause.

Please use the Comments area below to share any tips for other Activists or to tell about a letter you had published.

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“If you donate to the aid of cows being tortured and being confined into smaller living quarters with poor conditions, then you will yourself get better quality meat for your table. By supporting the rights of animals, you can potentially make the food you eat far better than it is. Besides, would you want to be imprisoned in horrible conditions your whole life before being eaten?”

However, with that logic, the other side of the token could be used.

“There is no need to help these cows. All you’ll do is decrease the amount of meat we can produce annually, causing humanity to either lose space for farmland or to starve itself to death as meat prices rise. By not supporting organizations for animal rights, you could potentially help save the world from starvation.”

Now that both arguments have been seen, you can hopefully see that both arguments rely heavily on logic. You should also be able to see that logic you can use logic to provide a counterargument for logic. The only thing that really matters now is public opinion.

Well, enough with the introductions, logic is pointless because of the fact (you can’t really say this is an opinion, as I have just provided evidence) that one could argue one point with logic but could find retaliation with logic of the same potency.

Basically, logic is like a pendulum, when one thing is said about something, you’ll have to expect that the argument will come back to hit you in the face. However, the thing about pendulums is that, eventually, they’ll slow down. Much like this, with an argument based on logic, each time the same piece of logic is used, the argument will weaken, usually due to repetition.

The one reason logic is still heavily used in arguments is that most people are not very capable of countering logic with logic, as the average human intelligence is declining (in fact, I believe I myself have lost 30 IQ listening to crude humor), so is the capabilities of the human mind to comprehend certain things, logic being one of these things. With that, it gives people a false sense of security that their argument is flawless (provided it is a persuasive piece of literature that is based on Logos, rather than any other style of rhetoric).

Well, time for our brief summarization, logic is pointless.

Each egg takes several numbers and letters printed above the expiration date.Despite being more code, it hides a lot about how it was produced, its identification code and to the country of origin. Information normally passes on to consumers but it is very important for those who want to eat organic food.
Our country is the third largest producer of eggs EUROPEAN UNION, with 48 million laying hens and a few billion dozen eggs per year. 90% of these birds are reared intensively. The chickens live in cramped cages and artificial conditions, which will produce different diseases and suffering. For the NGO, Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), is an undesirable situation, so consumers have asked “that require free-range eggs, living in decent conditions”
Range hens
And to eat free-range eggs, is highly recommended to know the meaning of the code are printed on the shell. The first number indicates the farming of chickens: “0″ means free from chickens fed on organic feed, the “1″ indicates the origin of free-range hens, ie, free and fed natural feed ; the eggs with the number “2″ are chickens that have been bred in large halls, crowded horizon, finally, those eggs that have a “3″ as first number vertically from hens crammed in cages.
In the supermarket, it is common to find eggs from caged hens, overcrowding in what is known as vertical. In many establishments do not have direct organic eggs, with the digits 0 or 1 recorded in the shell.
The two following letters indicate the country that have been produced and the rest belong to the code number of the producer.
Industrial livestock
This NGO despite not having much weight in our country was founded over 40 years. Exactly, in 1967, a British farmer decided it was not just continue with intensive industrial laganadería existed and exists for food production. Today, CIWF try to end these “cruel practices of industrial farming, pursuing a clear objective:” to achieve the welfare of farm animals “, as explained from the organization.
CIWF data indicate that worldwide, the production of eggs from caged hens is 60%. ”A caged hen lives its short life ends tucked into a small wire cage with several hens. The floor is wire mesh. According to EU legislation, the minimum floor space allowed for each bird is smaller than the a sheet of A4 paper “explaining from the organization.

Don’t count your chickens before they hatch

Don’t assume you have something until you really have it

As blind as a bat

To be unaware, as bats can’t see very well.

A little bird told me

To not want to tell where one got the information

Curiosity killed the cat

A warning about being curious

There’s more than one way to skin the cat

There is more than one way to do something

As happy as a clam in the high tide

To be very happy, as the high tide is the safest time for a clam.

Make a beeline

To go straight for something.

The early bird catches the worm

Don’t procrastinate, because the earlier you’re done, the better.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

Don’t go for something if it means losing what you already have.

Killed two birds with one stone

To accomplish two things at the same time.

Fine feathers make fine birds

The small details make the big thing good.

As slippery as a snake

Untrustworthy

To separate the sheep from the goats

To separate the good from the bad.

All his geese are swans

Describing someone who constantly exaggerates.

Well, now I believe. At least those in the U.S, this documentary only talks about the facilities in U.S, still I think the methods don’t vary that much. These places can’t even be called “farms”! They’re more like… I can’t think of a word that’s cruel enough to describe the extreme actions in these facilities.

I will link the video at the bottom of this page, but be aware: the video is very, very, very disturbing, especially to those of you who have never seen gore. I advise, do not wach this video if you are not ready for what’s coming to you. Also, the video doesn’t prepare you for the blood shed, the moment the video starts, it’s on.

I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS VIDEO – Hope you realize that I just mistakenly found this off of the internet.

http://www.meatvideo.com/

Introduction

     “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can judged by the way its animals are treated” – Mohandas Ghandi. Every day, somewhere in the world, an animal is forced to fight for its life. Whether it be an adorable puppy or kitten, or livestock on a factory farm, animals are unnecessarily abused. The purpose of this report is to educate people about the cruelty animal’s face on a daily basis.

Loyal Companions

     The news today is often filled with horrible stories about animal abuse, at the hands of sick and twisted people. An example of this is Pit-Bull fighting. It is a cruel form of entertainment and it means exactly what the name implies. Pit-bulls are pitted against each other in deadly combat. They are abused and trained to become aggressive fighters. (Blackdog) This in turn has caused people to see these creatures as a threat to society, causing them to become hated, banned and even put-down in many areas. (Blackdog) If we take away pit-bulls from society, won’t these dog fighters just find a new breed to intoxicate with their irresponsible ways? However, society will not blame the owner! They are always going to put the blame on the animal even though they were taught to act that way. Another terrible form of animal cruelty is the concept of puppy mills and farms. The main purpose is to produce large numbers of puppies and to find the cheapest way to do so. (Blackdog) The puppies are not properly cared for and must live their lives in tiny cages and unsanitary conditions. (Blackdog) The owners of these farms do not care about the puppies, only the money they make by keeping them. However, not all animal abuse is intentional. Animal hoarding is a mental disorder and people who suffer from it will keep a huge number of animals in their home. (Blackdog) They do not realize the harm they are doing to these poor creatures. It becomes overcrowded with so many animals being there and it becomes unsanitary to live in. (Blackdog) We hear so much about the abuse these innocent creatures suffer,  but it still continues.

Factory Farming

     Furthermore, most people don’t know the truth behind their food but, the sad fact is that a lot of the animals we eat have been abused in some way. Small family farms are done and large factory farms have taken their place. “Over 95% of the 650 million animals raised and slaughtered for food in Canada today are mass-produced on factory farms.” (Chooseveg)  These animals are packed tightly into dark and dirty warehouses, stuck in cages and chained to stalls, barely able to move. Most of them never experience fresh air or even sunlight! (Chooseveg) Some animals even suffocate because of how overcrowded it is on these farms. (Chooseveg) How would you feel if that was how you were to spend your entire life? The meat suppliers of Canada do not care about the well being of their animals and they are “treated as no more then mechanized parts of a food assembly line” (Chooseveg). The animals are forced to suffer terrible abuse. Chickens have their beak tips amputated, suffer ammonia burns, broken limbs, and have their throats slit while still conscious. (Chooseveg) Cows endure branding, castration and dehorning. (Chooseveg) Pigs have their tails cut off, teeth clipped, ears notched and are castrated. (Chooseveg) It’s disgusting and sickening that they feel the need to unnecessarily harm these innocent animals. Female animals are kept constantly pregnant, left to live in cramped cages. The worst part is that after a mother gives birth, her child is taken away from her. Imagine how you would feel if your child was ripped away from you. That is the worst pain a female animal will suffer, because they are losing someone they love. “Most Canadians do not view animals the same way that people did in the Victorian era,” said Melissa Tkachyk. These animals suffer horrible abuse for society and most people don’t even care.   

The lack of Justice

     In addition, many incidents of animal cruelty have resulted in little or no punishment. This proves that Canada’s cruelty laws are weak. Compared to other developed countries, Canada is sadly behind in its animal cruelty laws. Bill S-203 was created in 2008, in order to update Canada’s animal cruelty act and help to further decrease the amount of animal abuse in society. (Perkel) “However, [less] than one-quarter of 1 percent of the charges under Bill S-203 result in convictions.” For example, in one case a New Brunswick man was acquitted of charges for killing five dogs with a hammer. Apparently since the dogs were seen as his property, he was allowed to dispose of them however he wanted and was only charged a fifty dollar fine. (Perkel) The only reason this law was passed in the first place was to make the Canadian politicians look good. The government does not care about the well being of animals.  Canada has made an effort to decrease animal cruelty, however it still remains a serious problem.

Conclusion

     In conclusion, animals suffer terrible abuse and it has become a serious issue in society. The sad fact is,           most people don’t care

 Sources

Perkel, Colin. “Animal Cruelty Law Lacks Teeth.” The Star. The Star, Sunday 12 April. 2009.

     Web. 10 January. 2011

“Animal Abuse and Cruelty”. Blackdogrescueproject. N.P. 2009. January 10. 2011

“Factory Farming in Canada”. Chooseveg. N.P. N.D. January 10. 2011