In the past week we've seen two undercover videos of animals being abused in agribusiness.Some of the responses from the industry would be hilarious if animals' lives weren't at stake.
Compassion Over Killing yesterday released footage of ducklings being scaled alive, mangled in machines and washed down a garbage-disposal-like contraption.
Brian Collins, the owner of Cal-Cruz Hatcheries in California, was unsympathetic to the ducklings' plight.
"Some [ducklings/chicks] do get lost, and I'm not saying it's OK," Collins said. "But put it in perspective; it's a very small percentage. And it's a consumer-driven market. We have to keep the costs low."Note to non-vegans: If you want to end the abuse, don't financially support it.
He went on to blame the animal-agribusiness system.
"If there is some industry standard I'm missing, educate me, or design something better," Collins said.That's like saying, "Hey, if you know a way to get my dog to behave, let me know. Otherwise I'm gonna continue to kick him."
The craziest response to an undercover video came Tuesday in response to Mercy For Animals' investigation of Conklin Dairy Farms in Ohio.
Susan Crowell, an editor at "Farm and Dairy," suggested that perhaps Billy Joe Gregg, the man seen abusing cows on much of the video, had been working for Mercy For Animals. That perhaps MFA, an organization that fights against animal abuse, had paid this man to abuse cows and calves. Ooook.
So perhaps Mercy For Animals also paid Gary Conklin, the farm's owner, to abuse cows, too? He's seen on the video kicking a sick cow in the neck.
As odd as her suspicion is, her thoughts got even more outrageous. Her husband soothed her -- she was supposedly distraught at the animal abuse -- by putting the cruelty into perspective: What about the children?!
My God, that's true! Who is looking out for the children of this country?
Yes, that's right: Instead of trying to protect animals, Mercy For Animals should be fighting child abuse. Because, God knows, no one cares about children.
Crowell cites three instances of child abuse that all occurred in private homes.
Where are the undercover videos, where are all these well-funded activists, [Crowell's husband] asked, when it comes to children instead of animals?
[...]
We all have a responsibility to work together to prevent child abuse and neglect. Who will speak up for our future?
There are hundreds of worthy causes in this world, and we don't have to choose just one to fight for. The beautiful thing about helping animals is that you can do it at every meal. You have to eat anyway, right? So eat vegan when you take breaks from your undercover work documenting child abuse in people's homes.
(Image courtesy of The Humane Society of the United States.)
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3 comments:
I interned with MFA last year so I was responsible for responding to e-mail messages, phone calls, etc after the release of undercover investigation videos. Especially after the release of the Hy-line hatchery video, with images of chicks being ground-up alive, you would not believe how many phone calls there were from people talking about abortion. "What about abortion!" and "You should be focusing on the babies that are killed, it's called abortion!" Etc. Well ok, you are pro-life, so are we. Pro-life for these innocent chicks. We are fighting for the same thing, so why are you calling and yelling at me?
It's outrageous. It's all part of that "people-first" attitude those who argue against animal rights use. Well wait a minute, I don't see what they are doing for human rights when they call up the office to waste my time with their pointless bitchy messages. Sometimes I wonder about people.
It's like saying murder is a worse crime than rape, so we should all work on stopping murder and do nothing about rape. Just because you might consider something 'less' evil doesn't mean it should be allowed.
Thank you, both, for your comments. Very good points!
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