Why Not Eat Meat?

Paper Summary:

This paper begins with a description of farm life as it used to be, where animal and owner live together in harmony. It then explains the author's reasons for being a vegetarian are not due to the killing of the animal for food, but rather due to how the animals are now raised and the quality of their lives. The paper then offers graphic examples of cruelty to farm animals.

From the Paper:

"Pigs, for example, are now raised in cement enclosures that can be automatically hosed down. Cement, coupled with a lack of fresh air, promotes an overwhelming stench. Close confines, absolutely no exercise, and overcrowded conditions produce mental illness in pigs. They bite each other's tails and get nasty infections. A pig raised this way is depressed and apathetic and will not fight off another pig that bites into its flesh. The "remedy" is to cut off its tail, but not the whole tail, as you might think. The tail is chopped halfway in order to produce an intensely painful and tender stump. This rouses the pig being bitten to fight off his attacker. Multiply this by several thousand animals all crowded in together, and you start to get the picture (Scully, 2003) of overwhelming proportions."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Atlantic Monthly (2005). If pigs could swim, 296 (2), 134, 136-139.
• Scully, M. (2003). Dominion: The power of man, the suffering of animals, and the call to mercy. Boston: St. Martin's Press.
• DeGrazia, D. (2003). Taking Animals Seriously: Mental Life and Moral Status. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
• Spira, H. (2005). Less meat, less misery: Reforming factory farms. Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy, 11, Spring, 19-44.

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• Persuasive Essay # 128815 : "Meat of Mass Destruction"
• Persuasive Essay # 129549 : "Vegetarians are Healthier than (Red) Meat-Eaters"
• Argumentative Essay # 52381 : "Eating a Vegan Diet"

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