Myth # 41 : " But most farmers are kind to their animals ."
Myth # 41 : " But most farmers are kind to their animals ."
The truth of the matter is actually quite different – with over 99 % of all the meat & egg & dairy products in stores today coming from animals who were not only enslaved and murdered in their youth , but who were also treated horrifically before their terrible end . Indeed , the vast majority of farmed animals today ( indeed , even those confined on “ animal friendly ” farms ) are castrated , docked , de-toothed , debeaked , de-horned , &/ or repeatedly forcibly inseminated – all against their will , and all without anesthesia . No matter what reason a farmer might give for these practices , they most certainly cannot be labeled as " kind ".
And yet you might ask , “ But what about the small , local , organic farmer who treats his animals far better than that ?” … Well , those who make this argument are completely missing the all-important point : that regardless of how well an animal is fed ( or how gently he or she is cared for , or how often she or he is stroked or petted ), no animal that is bred into an enslaved existence to be ultimately killed in its adolescence is ever treated with true Kindness . Indeed , robbing an animal of the vast majority of its natural life by brutally murdering it in its youth is actually the least kind thing a farmer could ever do .
My Friends , no amount of " kindness " shown to animals before they are murdered is a justification for using them against their will or for ultimately killing them while they are still young . A slave-owner providing his slaves with comfortable housing does not make enslaving them acceptable , a torturer feeding his victims fine food before an interrogation does not make torturing them acceptable , and an executioner who plays her victims soft music or lends them soothing words does not make murdering them acceptable .
Similarly , as long as a farmer ' s animals are bred to be used for profit , as long as they are treated as commodities – without any rights to life & liberty , and without any available redress for the terrible wrongs done to them ; indeed , as long as they are ruthlessly murdered after only a few years of " service ", then that farmer has no right to speak of “ kindness ” whatsoever .
Current status of this Myth : Unshrouded Justification it provides for eating animals : NONE
“ Some meat & dairy farmers claim that they love their animals & treat them with respect before they are slaughtered , and yet there is absolutely no denying the fact that it is the animal who determines whether or not he or she is being truly loved and that it is the animal and the animal alone who determines whether or not he or she is being truly respected .” ~ anonymous
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