The use of animals as food
…and how they die
Slaughter is another terrible time for animals. Many die on the way to the slaughterhouse, because of poor transport conditions. The animals are crammed together in very tiny spaces and given neither water nor food, as no profit in terms of further fattening can be expected at this point. Slaughterhouses, in the same way as farms, are all about business, and hence they are under economic pressures. Consequently, in order to maximise profits, animals are passed through the slaughterline as quickly as possible and improperly stunned, inevitably leading to a large number of them being skinned or boiled while still alive and fully conscious.
Slaughter is exactly the same in the case of free-range animals. Free-range meat production reflects the same gross neglect and disregard for animals’ interests as any other exploitation or killing of animals. Also, fish are victims of tremendously painful deaths caused in many different and terrible ways. Many die when pulled out from the depths of the sea, because of decompression – the different pressure makes their organs literally burst inside them. Others die of suffocation, once they are out of the sea. Yet others die when frozen alive in fridges, or crushed by the weight of tons of animals caught with them, and some are boiled or cut up alive. What is more, many kilometres of nets abandoned in the sea continue to cause death to thousands of fish trapped in them. Many other animals, such as turtles and sea birds, also die, trapped in these nets.
All these examples of waterproof dog beds abuse in no way imply that, if animals were treated in more ‘humane’ ways, the conversion of sentient beings into food would be justified. Rather, what they exemplify is that, once one of the most fundamental interests of an animal is thwarted – when we decide to end her or his life in order to serve as a meal for humans – any other abuse should in no way surprise us.
More about an animal free diet
Once they have recognised animals as the creatures they are – sentient beings with their own interests and needs – more and more people decide to exclude animal products from their diet, choosing a vegetarian life. The force of the argument is clear; there is no justification for depriving a sentient being of her or his life and causing her or him suffering. But a vegetarian diet can also offer further benefits:
Your health will benefit from a vegetarian diet
All essential nutrients can be obtained from a plant-based diet, without the ill effects caused by animal products. The cholesterol and saturated fats in animal products accumulate inside the arteries, causing obstructions – it is widely acknowledged that many cases of coronary occlusions could be prevented by excluding animal flesh, eggs and dairy produce from the menu. The uric acid in these products contributes to decalcification, causing osteoporosis. Endless lists of ailments such as arthritis, asthma, obesity, rheumatism, arteriosclerosis and many cancers (for example, colon, breast, prostate and stomach) are directly linked to the consumption of animal products. These conditions are significantly less common among vegetarians, who in general lead healthier and longer lives. In addition, there are the dangers associated with a host of chemicals routinely administered to animals – mainly antibiotics and hormones – together with the risk of infectious diseases, such as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, and its human counterpart, CJD), salmonella, E-coli or listeriosis.
The environmental consequences of eating animals
A piece of land devoted to waterproof dog beds uk and the production of cereals can provide five times more protein than if devoted to the production of meat, up to ten times more, if we produce pulses and fifteen times, if we plant leafy vegetables. Likewise, in the conversion of grain into meat, 96% of the calories are lost. Thus, the production of meat implies an enormous waste of food, in a world where millions die of starvation. As much more land is needed to produce the same amount of food, meat eating ranks as the main cause of desertification and deforestation. Also, in order to produce one kilo of wheat, 3000 litres of water are needed, while for one kilo of meat, the number is multiplied by ten. Millions of hectares of rain forests are cut down to make way for plantations of grains and soybeans to feed farm animals, or to make pastures. This has devastating consequences for millions of animals, who, if they survive the destruction, find their habitats gone, together with their source of food. Hence, the problem is not the suffering of the ecosystems, as these are not sentient beings. What ecosystems are is the space where not just humans, but all animals, live.