Gentle Giants

    Their brains are just as abstract as ours...

   Cows are just as diverse as people. They are inquisitive animals who enjoy solving mental puzzles and get excited when they find a solution. "According to research, cows are generally very intelligent animals who can remember things for a long time. Animal behaviorists have found that cows interact in socially complex ways, developing friendships over time and sometimes holding grudges against other cows who treat them badly" (PETA.org). According to research, cows clearly understand cause and effect relationships- showing their advanced cognitive abilities. "cows can learn
 how to push a lever to operate a drinking fountain when they’re thirsty or to 
press a button with their heads to release grain when they’re hungry" (PETA.org).

Just like humans, they mourn
 the death and separation of 
their loved ones. They even 
shed tears when deeply emotionally disturbed.  Aforementioned, cows have
 a particularly strong bond to 
their babies. When they 
become separated, it is extremely common for the mother to cry 
out in order to find their babies who, beyond their knowledge, 
have already been sold to veal or beef farms.

      And most importantly, like all animals, cows value their lives and they 
don't want to die. 

Slaughterhouse Hygiene Problems

     Apart from the environmental pollutants, illegal preservatives, and growth-promoting agents found in most meat, the conditions of the slaughterhouse and meat handling are detrimentally unhygienic.  There is an excessive amount of contamination of meat that happens during transportation and during the routine slaughtering.

A main principle of maintaining well hygiene in the slaughterhouse is to avoid contact between the carcass and the floor especially after the cow has already been skinned. Many slaughterhouses use incorrect practices. Cows carcasses are allowed to touch the floor, carcasses are hung too close together- some that are skinned and some un-skinned, allowing the hair and contamination to touch the skinned carcasses. Cows are often slaughtered on the same slaughter slab causing large bacterial loads through cross contamination. This increases the risk of food poisoning microorganisms such as salmonella and E. coli.

   

Just another animal rights activist...

It's true...

      We have already learned about the trouble with factory farming from the movie Food Inc., the horrors in slaughterhouses from the movie Earthlings, the health detriments of eating animals in the movie Forks Over Knives, and how animal farming contributes to global warming in the movie Conspiracy.
 
So why do we keep reminding people about the devastation of animal agriculture? Well, it is because most consumers are still not actively aware about the environmental and health drawbacks and they lack of perspective on animal welfare. They completely miss the gap between the farm to the plate.

 
Now we must respect every individual's food choices, however those individuals must be aware of how these animals die to become our food and the truth behind the labels "Humanely raised", "Certified Humane", and "Animal Welfare Approved". Most people find comfort in seeing this on their packaged food next to a picture of a seemingly happy cow. Concern about where our food comes from has grown but there is still a hidden conversation about what happens behind the closed doors of the slaughterhouse.

  The truth behind these labels must be uncovered.


 Despite the "humane" label the farmers smack onto their products, most animals are treated the same way as those without that tag. Their lives are still miserable from birth to slaughter, being chained and caged. "Humane slaughter" is so poorly understood, and most importantly poorly practiced.