Cringing, because for two years I have been learning about the agriculture industry while majoring in animal science. It saddens me knowing that consumers throughout the US do not know where their food comes from.
I grew up in a city school. No agriculture was taught. Therefore, I personally know it’s not necessarily the consumers fault that they do not have this information.
I hope to clear some misconceptions that are on PETA’s website.
The first article I stumbled upon was over chickens.
They state that chickens, “have part of their sensitive beaks cut off without any pain killers.”
The process they are discussing is beak trimming. Producers trim beaks right away after the chicks’ hatch. The reasoning behind this process is to avoid them hurting each other with their sharp beaks.
PETA then follows with stating that sick chicks are disposed of “as if they were garbage.”
One thing to know is that sick chickens cannot be treated with antibiotics because they have such a short period between the time they are born and the time they are harvested. In order to give antibiotics to animals, they need a time of refrain from the medicine for meat quality assurance. The video shown was from India. Different countries have different procedures, which is why Americans may not understand why they are allowed to go through with these processes. Thinking about the chickens as “having a greater purpose,” is a great way to see harvesting animals. We learned from our ancestors that in order to feed our ever growing population we use animals as a source of feed.
As I kept scrolling I noticed they had a video.
Dehorning. The first part of the video was discussing cows being dehorned. Cows have thicker skin than humans, which is why this is a sound process. Producers also use this for safety reasons not only for the producer, but the other cows as well.
Castration and tail docking.
The reason behind tail docking, is for the pig’s safety. Pigs are curious creatures, therefore other pigs around them tend to bite on each others tails. If pigs bite on each other’s tails, it will cause infections that will hurt the pigs in the end.
Producers dock tails and castrate at young ages, so truly the pain only lasts for a second. Tail docking and castrating can be compared to piercing a baby’s ears, or even circumcision. The baby doesn’t necessarily have a choice, but the parent (comparable to the producer) is making the decision based on what they think is right.
Experimenting on animals. PETA states that animals are, “deliberately bred to develop crippling muscular dystrophy.”
Professors or researchers go through a long process of proving their procedures. They need to show that the animals are being purposefully used, humanely treated, and using medicine for the pain that may occur.
The purpose of research on animals is not to harm them, they are used for comparison. In order to know how a disease works in humans, sometimes using dogs shows similarities to us with the diseases. You see how the disease develops and effects the dog. Giving different antibiotics, doing different procedures, all lead the researchers on a path to possibly curing the disease.
They follow up with, “they would lose public funding if the public were to see the condition of the dogs.”
Rather than seeing the dogs as struggling, see them as the foundation for a cure. Think about the people who have the same disease. They are going through the same struggles as the dogs. These dogs are a pathway to curing a disease. If a cure is not found, maybe they find a way to ease pain. Either way these dogs have a purpose. Using dogs as a comparison could help millions of people.
Our future of curing diseases is at stake.
You may think taking away experimenting on animals will better the world, but it could quickly slow the process of the endless possible cures to diseases that researchers are working towards right now through animals.
PETA is able to play on emotions. I can’t blame anyone for going on their websites and having it pull on your heartstrings.
When you start to look deeper, you start to notice certain aspects that just don’t add up.
They find problems, but the time that they found the problem to the time it gets published, have six months or more in between.
If you really cared, you’d report the problem right away.
Using constant videos and pictures. They may seem like they show everything. Using videos and photos only shows you part of the whole story. Using videos allows them to focus your view on what they want you to see.
Where is the science? My biggest problem with PETA is their credibility.
Who is posting? Do they have an agriculture background? Education with agriculture? Where do they get their information? Who do they send out to do videos? Why should anyone believe anything that they say?
When PETA starts bringing in science and facts rather than assumptions with false information, then maybe I can consider even believing one article posted on their website. Until then, I will stick to learning facts from producers and my educators at the university.
