On Tuesday, the animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere released an exposé of a top-rated Whole Foods turkey supplier that found thousands of birds in cramped, filthy sheds with open sores and crippled legs. This investigation confirms my personal experience searching for "humane" animal products: When you look behind the closed doors of animal agriculture, you will find violence and cruelty that companies strive to keep hidden from the public.
I conducted my own independent research on local and humane farms as a student at UF. I interviewed local farmers in North Florida and enrolled in a farm animal husbandry course. What I found left me disturbed and dejected. I made a short list of abusive practices, and sadly, every farmer I spoke to reluctantly acknowledged that they employed several of those practices on their farms. I asked a local dairy producer whether he brands his cows or cuts off their horns without painkillers. With a sigh of regret, he admitted he couldn’t make enough profit if he wanted to provide them with basic pain relief.
This cruel reality directly contradicts the story perpetuated by the animal agriculture industry — animal welfare is perfectly aligned with the profit interests of agribusiness.
Unfortunately, this myth isn’t just peddled by corporate lobbyists and ad agencies, it is taught as dogma in state universities under the guise of "animal science." However, when pressed, the UF animal science department (where some of its research projects are funded by the beef industry) made it clear to me that being concerned first and foremost about the animals, as opposed to profit, will earn you ridicule, not praise. According to a classmate, our professor mocked my concern for animals when I wasn’t around.
Most will find this hidden abuse to be shocking, not amusing. After all, if even the best animal farms are this abusive, it is hard to imagine how horrific life is for the overwhelming majority of animals who are raised on farms that don’t even pretend to be humane.
But should it really be shocking? How can we be shocked when animals are abused only shortly before they are killed and dismembered? How can we expect our society to adequately protect their lives when we are completely indifferent to their deaths? Doesn’t it make sense that a society that slaughters animals simply for the taste of their body parts will fail to protect their other fundamental interests as well?
Slaughterhouse workers have reported that it is too emotionally taxing to care about the animals they are forced to kill. Psychology research confirms that mere awareness of the fact that certain animals are used for food causes people to devalue their mental capacities, and thus the value of their lives.
We will only be able to put a stop to this abuse when we stop killing animals for food and recognize them as individuals who deserve as much compassion as our dogs and cats. After visiting Florida’s amazing farmed animal sanctuaries and meeting cows, pigs, chickens and other animals, I have stopped searching for ethical ways to eat turkeys like Thomas, a turkey at CJ Acres Animal Rescue. I now understand Thomas has his own unique personality (he is a known flirt), habits and interests just like other animals. I now understand there is nothing compassionate about killing him for food, despite what Whole Foods would lead us to believe.
Next Thanksgiving, I hope you will pardon all animals and leave them off your plates. But much more importantly, I hope you will join the growing community of activists who are unmasking the violent truth behind animal agriculture and speaking out against one of the greatest injustices of our time. That is the only humane thing to do.
Jay Shooster is a student at New York University School of Law. He has worked for the U.S. Department of Justice as well as leading human and animal rights organizations.
