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Animals
As Food
See
also Chickens, Cows, Ducks, Fish, Geese, Goats, Horses, Pigs, Sheep, Turkeys, Whales
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An
Animal's Place
Michael Pllan, New York Times, feature — January
2003
There remains the question of whether we
owe animals that can feel pain any moral consideration,
and this seems impossible to deny. And if we do owe
them moral consideration, how can we justify eating
them?...
Cruelty
to Animals
Senator Robert C. Byrd, United States
Senate, speech — July 2001
Federal
law is being ignored. Animal cruelty abounds.
It is sickening. It is infuriating. Barbaric
treatment of helpless, defenseless creatures
must not be tolerated even if these animals
are being raised for food — and
even more so, more so...
Sacred
No More:
Abuse of Cows in China and India Exposed
Ingrid Newkirk, investigation — 1999
The
terrible treatment of the cattle is not just India’s
problem. They are slaughtered because of the West’s
influence. Anyone who buys beef in Pakistan, Malaysia
and the Arab states and anyone who buys leather in
Europe and North America may be part of the problem...
Absence
of Malice
Peter Singer, commentary — 1989
Deep
down, however, [Benjamin] Franklin was too intelligent
to be truly convinced by this argument, for he
admits that he reached this conclusion only after
the fish was in the frying pan and began to smell “admirably
well.” He
adds that one of the advantages of being a “reasonable
creature” is that one can find a reason for
whatever one wants to do...
Gitel & Byrne — Or
What I Learned from a Drive in the Country
Lois Flynne, essay — 1989
If
it had been a person, a human being, everybody would
have noticed immediately and acted to rescue it, unless
of course it was a person who was a non-person in the
particular society. If it had been a dog, we would
all have noticed sooner and taken some action to help.
We would certainly not have proceeded to dine on the
flesh of its fellows without a qualm...
Rage
Jim Mason,
essay
But
you couldn’t be close to them, or at ease
with them. You couldn’t (and this is where
my rage began to rise because I wanted to) have
regard for other beings — not when you
are in the business of raising them for slaughter...
If
Slaughterhouses Had Glass Walls
Anonymous, essay
Humans
will buy these pieces of flesh, and then broil, sauté,
fry, bake or grill them until the meat develops a third-degree
burn. After a scab has formed on the meat, humans will
call them “crispy” — and then eat
them...
Lines
To Be Said After Soup
Henry Bailey Stevens, poem
With
lentils, tomatoes and rice /
Olives and nuts and bread /
Why do I have to gnaw on a slice /
Of something bloody and dead?...
Getting
Away With Murder:
Inside a Pig Slaughter Plant
Andrew Tyler,
essay
21
hours on truck and train, then 15 minutes per animal
as it was electrocuted, stabbed, degutted and transported
to the chillers...
The
Texas Massacre:
Horse Slaughter in America
Laura Moretti, The Animals Voice, feature
There
has been no rest for the incredibly, terribly weary. They arrive utterly exhausted,
frantically falling over themselves as they dangerously slip on the feces- and
urine-slicked floors of the two-tier cattle truck that has brought them here...
Appointment
at the End of the World
Valerie Macys, essay
"They've
taken your babies," I said sadly, looking directly
into one cow's mournful eyes. They rolled back in
her head as she bellowed anew...
Cow
Slaughter
Barbara Leavitt, essay
The
bay next to the boneyard contained the gut
pit, but evidently its caretaker wasn’t
as neat in his job as was the boneman. Loops
of dark intestine and sheets of membrane hung
over a low railing surrounding the pit. A small
pile of yellowish viscera was slopped in front...
A
Childhood Memory
Paulette Callen, essay
The
place was thick with a reeking steam that rose out
of a cauldron gurgling and frothing with oily brown
bubbles. The smell. Feces. Urine. I was sorting out
the smells — rather, my brain was sorting them
by itself...
Think
of Me
Wayne Tolson,
poem
Think
of me tonight / For
that which you savor...
Mad
Human Disease
Natasha Canali Wood, poem
How
is it /
That we can make an animal into a machine /
And feel no remorse?...
Poem
Stan Kelley, poem
Sit
down to a table set with plate of meat / A dead carcass
you venture to eat / traumatized
flesh tortured and beat...
The
Bull Calf
Henry Bailey Stevens, poem
Well,
Sonny! Come along, /
Swinging your little tail! /
This is the price you have to pay /
For being born a male...
If
You Held the Knife
Susan Rich,
poem
The
lamb to the slaughter /
So innocent and white /
Will end up as somebody's dinner tonight /
As lamb "chops" or "stew" /
With mint jelly, "au jus"...
Second
Thoughts
Betty Jahn, poem
Alone, /
In God's quiet /
On a far hill /
Where wild woods meet pasture /
I meet a group of cows...
All
Flesh
Heather D. Yakin,
poem
Alone,
/ In God's quiet / On a far hill / Where wild woods
meet pasture / I meet a group of cows...
For
They Know Not
Laura Moretti, essay
The
steel bin was loaded with meat hooks — giant,
heavyweight, shiny, perfectly curved hooks. There must
have been six dozen of them. They were clean, bloodless,
and soaking in sterilized water in the outside hallway
of the meat processing building...
Hit
By a Truck
Laura Moretti, essay
I
admit it. I enjoy the Backstreet Boys’ megahit
song, “I Want It That Way.” There’s
something about its harmony, its rhythm, that enables
me, despite its literal translation, to escape the
grim reality of our work long enough to actually
feel good about being alive...
In
the Leaving
Laura Moretti, essay
The screaming of the
butchered pig in its death throes triggered the incredibly
deafening screams of the pigs in the holding pens.
Pitch. Lull. Pitch. And again... I believe they knew.
They could hear the dying inside the warehouse...
In
Their Heart of Hearts
Laura Moretti, essay
And
then the car swerved out of its lane in order to avoid
running over the tiny mashed carcass of some unrecognizable
species of animal... And I got to thinking...
No
Apology
Laura Moretti, essay
But
would it matter? Would they care? If they could see
what I have seen, hear what I have heard, feel the
pain I have felt in others, would it change their perspective?
Would there be, at least, an apology for the cruelties
and the unnecessary-ness of it all?...
The
Escape
Laura Moretti, essay
Humans
are fascinated by animals. Carousels and posters and
images on tee-shirts, stuffed animals and statuettes,
feeding pigeons and sea lions, buying books and toys,
puzzles and games, all filled with animals, real and
imagined...
Torn
in Half
Laura Moretti, essay
And
so here he came: a little black calf, barely a month old,
dragging himself along on his front hooves while stumps of
hind legs attempted to keep up. Onto the auction block he
went, where he was promptly bought by a meatpacking company...
Enjoy your veal — er, meal — America...
The
Light In Their Eyes
Laura Moretti, essay
I
see that now. I am reminded one more time. I’ve
still got one more mind to open, yet another heart
to change. No, two more. Wait... a hundred. But I am
up for it. I have — yet again — seen
the light... In their eyes...
Small
Town Talk
Laura Moretti, essay
I
was asked three times today why I live in this little
town. I’m always complaining about the restaurants,
the rednecks, and the rain, and I’m sure that
leaves my big-city friends and colleagues questioning
my sanity. In all honesty, I often question it myself...
Conversations
with No One
Laura Moretti, essay
She
could have been my mother; she looked rather
like her. A few years over 60, nicely dressed,
sitting a table or two away from where I was
dining. And when our gaze met, it was as if my
mother had just laid eyes on me...
The
Sending of the Animals
Henry Salt, poem
The animals, you say, were "sent." / For
man's free use and nutriment"...
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