Last part of research paper

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Cows are not the only farm animals who suffer these tragic

lives. Laying hens lead short and miserable lives for the purpose of

monetary profit for humans as well. Shortly after hatching, chicks

are sorted out by gender. The vast majority of male chicks are

tossed into a plastic garbage bag and are suffocated, crushed,

drowned, or ground up for chicken feed or other pet foods. Female

chicks do not endure these brutal deaths, but instead are mutilated

by debeaking. Debeaking is a process where the beaks of the chicks

are sliced off without anesthetic. This extremely painful process

uses a hot blade to slice through tender tissue similar to the tender

skin we have under our fingernails. Many of the chicks die due to

shock after this painful process, while some others die of starvation

when it becomes too painful to eat. The remainder of these chicks

live the rest of their lives with only six square inches of space in

a wire cage. After two years, the hens are unable to produce any

more eggs. They are taken to the slaughterhouse to be killed. The

natural life-span of a hen is five to six years. Broiler chickens

spend their lives crowded together in a warehouse with up to sixty

thousand other chickens. Some of these chickens die of suffocation

as a result of the overcrowding. Fully grown broiler chickens barely

have room to even move. At two months old, they are slaughtered.

Pigs, who are highly intelligent and friendly animals, are

weaned from their mothers extremely early in life, which can cause

great psychological distress. Piglets live in wire cages or small

cement holding pens until they reach the weight of fifty pounds.

They are then moved to individual stalls or to crowded pens with

other pigs. Many pigs react to overcrowding by biting off the tails

of other pigs. In response to this, factory farmers cut off the

tails of all the pigs; a process called tail-docking. Female pigs

that are used to produce piglets are looked upon as breeding

machines. They are continuously impregnated by artificial

insemination and are often strapped to the floor in tany crates in

which they cannot move. Another farm animal, the sheep, endures

similar tortures during their lives. Female sheep, ewes, are forced

to give birth twice per year. Male lambs are castrated before they

reach the age of three months. This procedure is done with either a

rubber ring cutting off the blood supply, or with a knife and no

anesthetic. Sheep also experience tail-docking without the use of

anesthetic.

A vegan will not include leather in their lifestyle because the

purchase of leather goods supports the meat industry. Purchasing

leather also helps to maintain the dairy industry, which creates and

upholds the veal industry. Most leather produced in the United

States is made from the skins of cattle, but some is also made from

horses, sheep, lambs, goats, pigs, and sometimes even from dogs and

cats killed in Asia. It is many times impossible to tell where the

leather came from. India is a big exporter of leather, and factories

there use some of the most brutal methods for killing animals for

leather. The animals are usually so sick and injured when the time

has come for them to be slaughtered, that they must be literally

dragged there. Then, hot chili peppers and tobacco are rubbed into

their eyes while their tail bones are painfully twisted and broken in

order to make them stand up. The slaughter procedure is neck-

cutting. Some of the animals have their legs hacked off or they are

skinned while they are still alive.

Many people have argued that humans are the most intelligent

creatures on the planet and therefore have dominance over all other

living things. They argue that humans are at the top of the food

chain and are supposed to eat meat. People have suggested that there

is evidence in the Bible that humans are supposed to eat meat.

However, in studying the Bible, passages such as " Do not destroy the

work of God for the sake of something to eat, " (Romans 14:20),

and " He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man, " (Isaiah 66:3),

suggest that the writers of the word of God held a respect for

animals and did not support meat-eating. Another argument is that

God gave people dominion over animals. As Rabbi Dr. Richard Schwartz

pointed out in Judaism and Vegetarianism, dominion does not give us

the right to exploit snimals the way we do. Dominion should be

looked at as guardian-ship. We should look after and take care of

animals, not exploit and murder them for our own profit.

The third and final aspect of the vegan lifestyle that I will

cover in my paper is the concern for the environment. Forty-five

percent of the land in the United States and twenty-five percent of

the land surface of the world is used for grazing land for more than

1.25 billion cattle. More than 260 million acres of forests in the

United States has been cleared to grow crops to feed animals raised

for meat. About half of rainforest destruction in the world is

destroyed in order to provide more grazing land for cattle. Every

eight seconds, another acre of trees is cut down. Fifty-five square

feet of rainforest is destroyed in order to produce one quarter-pound

hamburger. This is a highly inefficient use of the land. A vegan

requires only an eighth of the land needed to feed a meat-eater.

Animal agriculture and slaughterhouses are the largest uses and

polluters of water in the United States. Much of the waste from

factory farms and slaughterhouses contaminates water sources by

flowing into our streams and rivers. More than half of the water

consumed in the country is used to raise animals for food. The

amount of water used to produce a day's worth of food for a meat-

eater averages around 4,000 gallons of water compared to a mere 300

gallons of water per day to feed a vegan. Another resource that is

wastefully used is grain. Forty percent of the world's grain

production is used for meat-producing cattle. Feeding grain to

animals instead of directly to humans wastes resources. Five

kilograms of grain is needed to produce one kilogram of beef. In

other words, in order to provide meat for one person at one meal, a

cow has to eat as much grain as twelve people at one meat would eat.

In the United States, animals raised for food are fed more than

eighty percent of the corn grown, and more than ninety-five percent

of the oats grown. If meat consumption was lowered, or eliminated,

the issue of world hunger would no longer be relevant. In addition

to the inefficient use of our resources, animal agriculture also

harms our environment in many ways. Global warming and

the " greenhouse effect " are enhanced due to the large quantities of

methane released by livestock. The ammonia that is given off by

animal waste and fertilizers contributes to acidic rain which results

in destruction of plant life. There has been a one-third loss of

topsoil from farmlands as a result of methods used to grow animal

feed.

A possible solution to the ecological destruction of the world

is an increase in organic plant agriculture. This is a more

efficient way of usage of resources such as water, land, and energy.

Organic plant agriculture is less polluting and would increase the

availability of the supply of food for the world's human population.

In conclusion, veganism constitutes a lifestyle of compassion

towards the earth and all of its creatures. As more people become

aware of the benefits of a vegan lifestyle for human and animal

populations as well as for the environment, the population of vegans

is growing. However, the number of people consuming animal products,

as food or as other commodities, is still far too high. People are

unaware of the abuse towards animals that they are supporting by

purchasing items made with animal products, and they are unaware of

the damage they are causing to their own bodies by eating animal

products. By adopting a vegan lifestyle, people can benefit the

earth, the animals, and themselves.

 

 

 

 

Ok, that's my paper...I know that I could have been more

thorough...particularly regarding the issue of using animal

commodities such as leather...but as my paper only had to be 12-15

pages long for my class, I really just touched on the issues. Again,

thanks for reading.

 

Meghan