Follow up: As a result of the cattle mistreatment caught on tape at a California slaughterhouse, 143 million pounds of ground beef has been recalled. This is further proof that factory farming is not only inhumane, but also puts consumers at risk of being exposed to deadly diseases. I’d say the meat industry needs an overhaul.
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California cheese comes from happy cows, right?
31Jan08
Wrong! Dairy cows are pumped full of hormones and milked excessively and continuously until they can’t produce any more. Then they’re put out to pasture, right? Nope, they’re sent off to slaughterhouses, which is what happens to most cows of course, but by that time their bones are so weak from calcium depletion that a lot of them can’t even stand up once they arrive. The ones who can’t stand up are called “downers,” and are not allowed to enter the food chain. Enter the slaughterhouse workers whose job it is to get them standing so that they can pass inspection. The mama cows are kicked, jabbed in the eyes, shocked repeatedly, dragged with chains, sprayed in face with high-pressure hoses, and rammed with forklifts.
The Humane Society of the United States just released a video of the cows being abused that was taken by an undercover worker last year. People wonder why it wasn’t released sooner, but here’s what I think. A lot of people like to believe that meat comes from the supermarket. They don’t want to know what goes on behind the scenes. This kind of mistreatment of animals goes on all the time, and there are countless videos documenting it. Like I said, people just don’t want to know about it. The only reason it’s in the news now, in my opinion, is that it may possibly affect our school children.
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” ~Mahatma Gandhi
