If you go to you local supermarket or grocery store, you'll notice it carries all the basics: Dairy, Grains, Bread, Fruits, Vegetables and meats. In the produce section, you may see the vegetables an think, Since its for sale, it probably comes from a good farm. In the meat section, you may also think the same. Most people don't think to worry about how the animal was slaughter or taken care of before slaughtering. If asked the majority will brush it off and say, "why does it matter? they're gonna end up on a plate anyways..." In an column published by the New York Times, we are forced to wonder, does it matter? should farm animals have the same rights as pets?
Written by Mark Bittman, a distinguished New York Times Writer about "food and all things related", "Some Animals Are Equal Than Others" takes a look at some of the issues and loopholes surrounding Pets and animals. According to Bittman, there is a fine line between "pet" and "animal". For instance, a 19-year-old Monique Smith slammed her sibling’s hamster on the floor, killing it out of a fit of rage. An ASPCA agent, which according to the article is one of 18 agents responsible for protecting animal rights in all five boroughs, arrested her. while the charges against her were later dropped, Ms. Smith spent a night in Jail on Rikers Island(Newman, NYT). For Bittman, something is wrong. to him that "something" is "we protect “companion animals” like hamsters while largely ignoring what amounts to the torture of chickens and cows and pigs. In short, if I keep a pig as a pet, I can’t kick it. If I keep a pig I intend to sell for food, I can pretty much torture it."
According to Bittman, State laws known as “Common Farming Exemptions” allow industry — rather than lawmakers — to make any practice legal as long as it’s common. According to an email response from his friend, Jonathan Safran Foer, the author of “Eating Animals”, “the industry has the power to define cruelty. It’s every bit as crazy as giving burglars the power to define trespassing.” In other words, there seems to be no limitations on the farm industry on terms of animal treatment. We may not want to think that our cow, that will soon be on our plate, is getting turned over with a forklift for kicks on the farm, but that just may be the reality. Not to mention, if it was, theres little to nothing you or I can do about it.
According to Bittman, we “process” (that means kill) nearly 10 billion animals annually in this country, approximately one-sixth of the world’s total, but "many if not most of these animals are raised (or not, since probably a couple of hundred million are killed at birth) industrially." Philosopher Peter Singer along with others have compared these conditions to concentration camps. this is where Bittman asks the reader, "Might we more usefully police those who keep egg-laying hens in cages so small the birds can’t open their wings, for example, than anger-management-challenged young people accused of hamstercide?"
Common Farming Exemptions allow the killing and mistreatment of millions of farm animals. According to Bittman, approximately 200 million male chicks get put through grinders, and over 65 million calves and piglets get castrated without anesthetic. In Bittman's words, all of this is legal, because we eat them. According to the exemptions, as long as farmers raise animals for food and it’s done by fellow “farmers”, its legal.
According to the column, There are laws slowly coming to fruition that will protect these animals. after investigations and exposure by PETA and other animal rights groups, people cant ignore whats going on. Most farms are beginning to raise animals more humanely, due to more and harsher farm inspections and federal regulations.
After reading this column, I've come to agree with Mark Bittman. Farm animals should have rights too, just as much as pets do. While they may only be living for a short while, I believe that their life shouldn't be all gloom and doom. I believe, as most other people who deal with animals, that a happy animal is a healthy one. Farm animal health and well being are especially important because we consume them. Sick or oppressed farm animals are more prone to getting sick or picking up a harmful bacteria. Not only have these animals made it through to the supermarkets, they've made it to people's homes, people's plate. The domino effect of negativity can be prevented if animals were humanely and properly cared for.
Pet over animals is becoming a constant debate among animal rights activists and congress. Is there a solutions to keep both parties happy? maybe, but until we figure one out, the debate will go on.
References:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/some-animals-are-more-equal-than-others/
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/19-year-old-is-charged-in-hamsters-death/?scp=1&sq=hamster&st=cse
No comments:
Post a Comment