"Death on a Factory Farm" a Must-See

Because I don't have cable or satellite, I wasn't able to watch HBO's "Death on a Factory Farm" until last night. (A friend DVR'd it for me.)

Of course, the cruelty in the documentary wasn't pleasant to watch, but I'm glad I saw the film and highly recommend it. If you're a meat-eater, you owe it to yourself and to the animals to know how the "food" gets to your plate.

Since going veg in 2006, I read whatever I can get my hands on about animal rights, particularly with regard to factory farming, as that is the industry that kills the most animals. I've also seen several videos that document cruelty in the animal "agriculture" business. But "Death on a Factory Farm" showed me even more instances of cruelty that I hadn't known existed: throwing pigs into metal bins and onto school buses -- yes, school buses -- for transport and dumping dead pigs in giant mass graves.

The second part of the film reveals the court case in which the owner of the factory farm in question and his son and another employee are on trial for animal cruelty. Most of the case centers on whether hanging pigs by a chain from a forklift is a proper form of euthanasia or whether it's animal cruelty. In the end it comes down to legalities, of course.

I contend, though, that "euthanasia" isn't the proper word to use when murdering an animal. If my dog becomes so sick that he's suffering, I'll bring him to the veterinarian and have him euthanized by a quick, virtually painless injection. I won't have someone shoot him in the head -- or hang him. Those last options certainly are murder, even if not legally defined as such.

As an aside, Paul Shapiro, senior director for The Humane Society of the United States' factory farming campaign, has shown how two-faced the "pork" industry is. During the court case in 2007 "producers rallied around the defendants in the case, showing up to court in solidarity with them and even raising thousands of dollars for legal defense bills." In fact, at the end of the documentary we learn that a pork board -- I can't remember if it was national or statewide -- raised $10,000 for the defendants' legal bills.

Now, though, after the documentary has aired and millions of people have the ability to see it, "[t]he National Pork Producers Council issued a statement saying it 'condemns' the images seen in the film, and that such practices are 'abhorred by responsible pork producers.'"

That's the M.O. of these industries. They continue their cruel practices until undercover videotapes garner national attention, and then they contend that these are rare instances, "needles in a huge agricultural haystack." And, of course, a few months later another "rare" case of animal cruelty will be documented.

"Death on a Factory Farm" will be replayed on HBO throughout this month and next. Please watch it so you're aware of the torture that occurs across this country every day. And then visit ChooseVeg.com for more information on how you can say no to contributing to the suffering.

(Image courtesy of "Death on a Factory Farm.")