Re: virus: Religions,

Eric Boyd (6ceb3@qlink.queensu.ca)
Wed, 15 Apr 1998 21:13:13 -0400


Hi,

Sodom <sodom@ma.ultranet.com> wrote:
> i cannot bear to see animals suffer, yet my farmer friend
> thinks of animals as meat and will punish, torture or kill
> them with not a glimmer [of] emotion.

There are many many interesting issues surrounding the killing of animals
for food -- having grown up on a small scale chicken farm, I'm probably
more aware of them than most. I think it's sort of inevidable that we
humans will kill for food -- but what I think is important from an empthy
standpoint is that we don't inflict needless pain and suffering on those
beasts of burden. Certainly on my chicken farm we make every attempt to
led the chickens lead happy, if perhaps not meaningful (from their
perspective) lives.

Sadly, I'm very sure this is not true of the farming "industry" in general
-- just like every other business, it's only the bottom line that matters
to them. If they can make more money by putting the chickens in cages, 4
to a 2 cubic foot space, they WILL do it; no matter how terrible that must
be for the chicken.

Something has to change. I just hope we do it soon enough that we don't
have to starve have the [human] population of earth when the change
*forces* itself upon us.

ERiC