Illegal to document cruelty? How about making cruelty illegal?
Senator Jim Miller (FL) recently introduced S.B. 1246, which would make it a first-degree felony to take a picture of a farm animal without the owner’s permission in Florida. Representative Brian Quirk (IA) seeks to criminalize undercover investigations at factory farms, claiming that a truth-seeker who works undercover at a factory farm and documents egregious cruelty is, in fact, a terrorist.
As you sit down to your Thanksgiving meal this year, take a moment to consider the origin of the turkey on the table. This noble, friendly, inquisitive bird lived a life devoid of even the most basic of stimulation. Soon after hatching, sections of each turkey’s beaks and toes are cut off to prevent injuries from fighting that will occur amidst the overcrowded living conditions they will soon enter. As a result of massive genetic manipulation, their breasts outgrow the rest of their body to an unnatural size. This causes many physical deformities which will go untreated, further contributing to the life of misery they are forced to endure. They can no longer breed on their own due to their enlarged breasts, and must be artificially inseminated for reproduction.
I recently came across Treehugger founder, Graham Hill’s “Why Am I A Weekday Vegetarian” (http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/graham_hill_weekday_vegetarian.html). Once I realized that I NEEDED to be a vegetarian, I was pretty much able to give up meat (with an occasional taste of meat off of my boyfriend’s plate). But for those that don’t have that kind of will-power, and kicking meat can be tough, is it really an “all or nothing” situation.
When I first became vegetarian at 19 years old, I had no idea what a vegetarian eats. So…I lived off of cheese pizza for awhile. Of course, this was not healthy nor did it help convince my boyfriend that the veggie lifestyle was doable. Now….almost 20 years later, I have learned a few things (and that boyfriend of mine is now my husband AND a vegetarian).