PETA: 'Organic' meats are still slaughtered inhumanely

Editor,

Although I was happy to see discussion of the benefits of vegetarianism in the letter to the editor, “Not all vegetarians are radical ‘blood splatterers,’” published on Feb. 21, the author has fallen victim to a dangerous myth — that of humane “free-range” and “organic” meat, eggs and dairy products.

It is impossible to humanely raise and kill the billions of animals slaughtered each year in the U.S. to satisfy this country’s enormous appetite for food from animals. Even if workers on factory farms were willing to give each individual animal the time and attention necessary to promote humane conditions, concern for animals’ wants and needs on factory farms is notoriously rare. They could not possibly attend to the countless animals that are enslaved and exploited to feed our current meat, milk and egg habit.

As for animals’ chances for a peaceful death, euthanasia by painless injection — the only true form of humane killing — is impracticable in the case of animals raised for food because it renders their flesh inedible.

Unfortunately, animals raised on many “organic” or “free-range” farms suffer the same conditions that characterize factory farms. The term “organic” applies only to what the animals are fed and what kind of drugs they are given — it does not signify improvements to quality of life, cleanliness or how the animals are housed. Most eggs labeled “free-range” come from hens that are raised in dark, extremely crowded sheds, much like those used to confine broiler chickens. Even on so-called “humane” farms, male chicks — of no use in egg production — are killed upon hatching, often by suffocation or by being ground up alive. When they have outlived their usefulness, hens are killed, since farmers’ need for high profits prevents them from continuing to feed and care for animals that no longer contribute to the bottom line.

Conditions on small dairy farms are similarly cruel. Male calves, considered useless because they can’t produce milk, are usually sold to the veal industry or to larger dairy farms and eventually slaughtered. Pigs, cows and other animals raised for meat on “humane” farms are butchered in the same terrifying slaughterhouses as animals raised on factory farms.

The intense fear and pain suffered by farmed animals are among the many reasons why we at PETA advocate a vegan diet. We have so many choices as consumers today, from veggie barbecue riblets to vegan pizza.

There’s simply no reason to continue to raise and slaughter animals for food. The only truly humane alternative to making animals suffer is to stop buying and consuming animal products — and it’s not as hard as you might think.

Drew Winter
Peta2 College Campaigns assistant