Editor,
Your article on the Mercy for Animals vegetarian commercial (Oct. 29) was timely. According to the University of Illinois Animal Systems Program, meat consumption is at an all-time high. In 1970, meat consumption per capita was 177 lbs. compared to 196 lbs. in 2000. Aside from the devastating effects this is having on our environment, workers' rights and health, the increase is a terrible sign for animals raised for food.
Ninety-nine percent of the animals destined to become food in the United States are not raised on family farms, but rather in Confined Intensive Feeding Operations (CIFOs). Conditions on these factory farms are horrendous: within days of birth, chickens have their beaks seared off with a hot blade while young cows and pigs are castrated without anesthetics. All of these animals spend their short lives in crowded and ammonia-filled conditions, many so cramped they cannot even turn around. After being fed excessive amounts of antibiotics, they are crammed into trucks for stressful rides to the slaughterhouse, where they are hung upside-down and have their throats sliced open, often while fully conscious.
These are the practices Mercy for Animals highlights in the commercial. The hope is that any compassionate person will be so disgusted that they will refuse to support the meat industry. I urge everyone to learn more about the origin of their food and to please go vegetarian.
- Alex Csicsek
President, Athens Animal Rights Coalition
animalou@ohiou.edu
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Alex Csicsek
