Time To Meat Reality!!

EDIT TO CLARIFY:I SUPPORT THE KILLING OF ANIMALS
I was reading this thread and I was getting really fired up at how many ATS members were taking offence to someone elses culture of killing a goat as sacrifice by slitting its throat ( a clean death). When our cultures of the western world abuse, slaughter, mutate and waste animals in mass on a daily basis. But because you do not do it and do not see it happen you act as if you have nothing to do with it.
All these animals being raised often in confinement and living a short life just to provide you with things such as:

Makeup: often contains animal, tested on animals resulting in deaths/mutilations

Jello: ground up bone/hooves
Leather: animal skin
Stock
Cochineal (food dye)
Lard/Cooking fat
Rennet (used to produce cheese)
Fur coats
eggs
the list goes on but we can forget... MEAT

According to NASS reports and expert interviews, 8,792,000,000 "broiler" chickens and 492,700,000 "layer" hens were killed for food in 2000, as well as 304,000,000 turkeys and 26,100,000 ducks, for a total of 9,551,000,000 birds, and is expected to continue to rise.

Among mammals 41,700,000 cows and calves were killed for food in 2000, as well as 115,200,000 pigs and 4,300,000 sheep, for a total of 161,200,000. These stats are also expected to continue to rise.

Thus, the total number of all animals killed for food in 2000 was 9.7 billion.

Over 95 percent of U.S. land animals killed for food are birds. Chickens are often kept in Battery's - a small space that they do not even have enough room to move around in.
2.4 million battery hens are farmed each year. 95% of all layer hens are battery hens.They produce over 60 million dozen eggs per year.People consume 200 eggs on average per year.
Due to selective breeding each hen lays about 310 eggs per year. The wild ancestor, the junglefowl, would lay 10 to 20 eggs per year.

The first step for chickens is to get them when young and remove their beak so they can not peak other chickens. Rough handling, yelling and being grabbed by the head, neck, tail or wing, as operators shove the birds’ faces up against and into the debeaking machinery - sometimes it is cut off othertimes it is burnt, then they pull the birds violently away and toss them into containers, whcih causes broken bones, torn and twisted beaks and injuries to their delicate joints.

Chicken debeaking


Mammels (other than rabbits) are stunned prior to slaughter (excluding ritual slaughter). Typically, electric current is used to induce a heart attack and/or seizure; or a captive bolt gun is used to deliver a blow to the skull or shoot a steel rod into the animal’s brain.

It’s not uncommon for an animal to suffer one or two failed stuns.In the case of a failed electrical stun, an animal may be paralyzed without losing sensibility. Unconscious animals whose necks are not cut soon enough may regain their senses after being hung on the bleed rail.

slaughter house
Slaughter


My view:
I have grown up most of my life on or around farms, I am not against the killing of animals as I believe their products are usefull and often required for humans. There are 6 billion people in this world and we need to eat, we could not do this without animals.. most of the world cant do it even with animals.
1 billion of us live a life of absoute luxury and waste so many animals for gluttony, pride and greed. Often wasting what we do not use while people around the world starve.
The reason for this thread is because I am against is people abusing someone elses culture and belief because it does not match their views meanwhile not denying ignorance and not realising that their own culture does far worse things every second of every day for reasons that most people around the world would consider wrong such as killing animals to produce makeup to look good or food dye or to get it's bones so you can grind them to thicken youre jello.
You can go on living your life of ignorance pretending that your preslaughtered, prepacked meat just grew like that or you can realise that these are animals and they had their life taken for us and we waste a hell of a lot more life than anyone else on this planet - so we need to put it to good use and not waste it and not put others down for their beliefs.


Thanks for reading


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reply to post by byteshertz

According to NASS reports and expert interviews, 8,792,000,000 "broiler" chickens and 492,700,000 "layer" hens were killed for food in 2000, as well as 304,000,000 turkeys and 26,100,000 ducks, for a total of 9,551,000,000 birds, and is expected to continue to rise.

Man, I was thinking that that amount of animals would make one hell of a barbeque!

Mmmm...mmm....mmm!! Pass the sauce!

This is part of the problems with America. The US is pretty much isolated from the rest of the world and we do not get to see other cultures, we are kind of over in our own little corner. I have been to several different countries and I learned a lot and I give the people of other countries a lot of respect. For the most part, we are the least accepting of other cultures. Americans need to get out more and learn about the cultures of the world. The thing I noticed the most and it was pretty much across the board was that in other countries, the people just seem happy, they are laid back and really do not let things bother them, people mingling in the streets, kids running around playing, really refreshing. But back here, it is move move move, as fast as we can, as if there is somewhere we have to be and everything must have a dollar value or we are not interested, that is sickening.

Yes, we kill animals to eat them. Would you prefer we eat them live? I like meat. I have killed, gutted, skinned, and butchered my own meat(usually hogs or deer). I am not afraid to face the truth that animals must die for me to eat. It is the circle of life.

Originally posted by sonofliberty1776
Yes, we kill animals to eat them. Would you prefer we eat them live? I like meat. I have killed, gutted, skinned, and butchered my own meat(usually hogs or deer). I am not afraid to face the truth that animals must die for me to eat. It is the circle of life.

Um did you read what I wrote? I am for the killing of animals but was pointing out that alot is wasted or for pointless things like makeup. I was saying we should not judge other culture that kill an animal for sacrifice when so much is wasted here every second.

Originally posted by byteshertz

Originally posted by sonofliberty1776
Yes, we kill animals to eat them. Would you prefer we eat them live? I like meat. I have killed, gutted, skinned, and butchered my own meat(usually hogs or deer). I am not afraid to face the truth that animals must die for me to eat. It is the circle of life.

Um did you read what I wrote? I am for the killing of animals but was pointing out that alot is wasted or for pointless things like makeup. I was saying we should not judge other culture that kill an animal for sacrifice when so much is wasted here every second.

I did. You made so much out of what is done to these creatures and the uses we put them to, that I got the impression you were one of those peta fanatics. If I was mistaken in that impression, I apologize.

Originally posted by sonofliberty1776

Originally posted by byteshertz

Originally posted by sonofliberty1776
Yes, we kill animals to eat them. Would you prefer we eat them live? I like meat. I have killed, gutted, skinned, and butchered my own meat(usually hogs or deer). I am not afraid to face the truth that animals must die for me to eat. It is the circle of life.

Um did you read what I wrote? I am for the killing of animals but was pointing out that alot is wasted or for pointless things like makeup. I was saying we should not judge other culture that kill an animal for sacrifice when so much is wasted here every second.

I did. You made so much out of what is done to these creatures and the uses we put them to, that I got the impression you were one of those peta fanatics. If I was mistaken in that impression, I apologize.

HAHA fair enough, I did go on a bit. I don't live under the flase impression the animals dont suffer. But this suffering is what supports our everyday way of life. As long as we put it to good use I dont really care - if we look at africa there is no regard from a predator towards what its prey is feeling.

reply to post by byteshertz


You've put up a good thread.
So what do you like to eat? Are you a vegatarian?
You don't have a location specified. What's your culture like?



SnF

Originally posted by randyvs
reply to post by byteshertz

 

You've put up a good thread.

So what do you like to eat? Are you a vegatarian?
You don't have a location specified. What's your culture like?

edit on 2-2-2011 by randyvs because: (no reason given)

No my thread was a bit confusing so I have just tried to clarify. I support the killing of animals. I pointed out the western world (my culture) abuses many animals and alot goes to waste so it is wrong of us to put down other cultures who cleanly sacrifice an animal as part of a ritual.

reply to post by byteshertz


No worries then. I do agree with you about the cultural differences and people's refusal to acknowledge or just outright condemn said differences.

When our cultures of the western world abuse, slaughter, mutate and waste animals in mass on a daily basis. But because you do not do it and do not see it happen you act as if you have nothing to do with it.

As a meat eater, i share your sentiment on the treatment of slaughter of mass quantity of animals, and the harsh conditions under which they are raised, live, and die. The factory farms are inhumane and treat the animals not as animals but a means to a business end: just another good to be processed and sold, with neither thought nor feeling that they are sentient beings with nervous systems or basic emotions.

I also feel that few people have a true understanding of another culture and its customs, as you mentioned. We are grounded in our own cultural perspective, and usually cannot see or understand another culture's practices--globally.

But i need this, from your post, clarified:

ATS members were taking offence to someone elses culture of killing a goat as sacrifice by slitting its throat ( a clean death).]

What do you mean by "a clean death?"

I have seen videos of both animals and humans having their throats slit, and it is hardly a pleasant, human, acceptable, or clean experience. On the contrary, it is quite chilling and horrific, both visually and auditory.

As an aside, some slaughterhouses slit the throats of the animals en masse, so i do not see how that is different from a sacrifice.

Perhaps i just don't understand or am missing something.

It took the un-brainwashing of a couple anthropology classes to clue me in to the cultural filter that informed my moral standards. You did about as good at reminding me of our ethnocentric justifications by pointing out this blatant hypocrisy. I get that your thread isn't geared toward solutions per se, but may I ask, besides abstaining from meat products, what would you (OP) suggest in the way of reforming the system, and mitigating the suffering? Thanks. s&f for a point well made.

reply to post by byteshertz


I also think a lot of what goes on in this world causes alot of suffering. The world is way out of balance with all the greed. The whole world.

reply to post by Liquesence


To clarify why I believe a slit throat is a clean death:
Although I agree a slit throat is not a pleasent sight to witness,
If the throat is slit "properly" cutting both carotid arteries and the jugular vein, enough blood exits the head in seconds to causing the prey to go unconscious.

Originally posted by joechip
It took the un-brainwashing of a couple anthropology classes to clue me in to the cultural filter that informed my moral standards. You did about as good at reminding me of our ethnocentric justifications by pointing out this blatant hypocrisy. I get that your thread isn't geared toward solutions per se, but may I ask, besides abstaining from meat products, what would you (OP) suggest in the way of reforming the system, and mitigating the suffering? Thanks. s&f for a point well made.

Thanks for the reply.

I dont have a solution, we need meat and we need it to be cheap.
The more effort we put in to making the animals lifes good and the deaths less "mass produced" the less people will have a good life because the cost of food goes up which in turn means more people can not afford to eat.

The only solution I have is that we stop wasting so much on pointless products and make sure we use everything as efficiently as possible.

I think people that see animals being killed in anyway, show their horror and disgust at it simply because they view it like it could happen to them! I once had to stab and twist a knife into a sheep's stomach to help it survive after it got into to much grain and bloated. It would have died otherwise. We had many people from other cultures come out to our farm and butcher sheep on the property. Some did a religious ceremony before they cut it's throat. They showed the sheep the respect they deserved, they said.

I for one say pass the potatoes......they go great with meat! Cows eat grass and hay not other animals, they are vegan. I eat cows, does that make me vegan to?

reply to post by theclutch


It may seem senseless to make makeup but that is a viable way to use the scrap from the animal that would otherwise go unused. I own a hauling company for dead animals here in the midwest and 90% of the animals i haul are horses hat have died of old age or have died due to injuries. I am also a member of Mers (acronym for Missouri Emergency Rescue Service) that rescues animals from serious life threatening situations like fire fighters and police do for people. DO NOT get that mixed up with the humane society and aspca because they do a different service than we do. I routinely get calls from veterinarians and animal owners to take the carcasses to rendering facilities and what they do to the animals are gross but definately needed(keep in mind they are dead and not alive). With the remains of the animals we get tons of different uses such as fertilizer, biofuels, Makeup( yuck), leather for your air jordans and medicines. Hmm.... doesn't look like waste to me but who am I? I am just a dumb country boy that is in touch with the cycles of life and didn't spend my childhood chasing rainbows and thinking that animals don't die. I just wish most city people would stop and realize what they say because they complain that #ry( intentional misspell) folks are just barbaric when they consume our hard work and demonize us for supplying them with a clean concious so they can eat their pork chops.

I guess the only time people will stop their senseless consumerism is when the last animals die, when the last trees fall, etc.

I would also add that the shear distance the dead animal carcasses travel is burdensome to say the least. Our farming practices, aside from being cruel to the animals, are usually detrimental to the already local, nascent environment. In many ways, ranching and farming and monoculture crops are destroying the underlying ecosystem of the diverse regions of the US and the world. In the past, you ate what existed where you lived. If what was there was not good enough, you did not stay in that place, you tried a little harder to make it work, or you cut your population size down and/or migrated during the year.

This practice has been largely abandoned for the replication of European cuisine on the other inhabited continents that already had traditions.

It was never wrong, per se, to show a new tribe a new plant or take an animal from your old home to where you ended up settling down elsewhere in the world. However, this idea that we can somehow recreate 18th century Northern Europe (or whatever it has morphed into...Fusion or whatever such nonsense) in all corners of the globe is unsustainable.

Also, I would add that just a couple hundred years ago it would have been unheard-of to eat tuna, cod, crabs, lobster and shrimp if you lived in the middle of a continent. I think the overharvesting of the oceans is a telling sign of what happens when predators have access to prey that is removed in both time and space. What other predator do you know than the human that can prey on something from half the world away?

If lions or bears or sharks could just magically have or pick the easiest or tastiest prey from wherever else, what do you think would happen to their environmental niches seeing as their are the top of the food chain...why, they'd collapse.