The Manual of Animal Rights
Section 1: Food From Animals
The human physiology, like that of our closest living relatives -- the
great apes, is vegetarian in design. The structure of our skin, teeth,
stomach and bowels, the length of our digestive system, the composition of
our saliva, stomach acids and urine etc. are all typically vegetarian.
Somewhere though, deep in our ancient history, we used our
extraordinary minds to develop tools that overcame our physical
limitations and enabled us to kill other animals and eat their flesh. We
became omnivorous in habit but our physiology, though resilient and
adaptable enough to handle quantities of flesh, has always remained true
to its vegetarian origins.
Stripped of our tools this becomes obvious. Imagine for example, the
difficulty you would have first catching and then eating a rabbit raw --
fur, bone, sinew and all and compare that to the ease with which you could
gather and eat a bowl of raw fruit or vegetables.
Perhaps more importantly, ask yourself if, when you are very hungry,
you in any way feel an instinctive urge to hunt down, kill and eat another
animal.
Despite our omnivorous habits human beings are designed for and
thrive on a vegetarian diet. We can in fact maintain the very best
in health without resorting to any animal products whatsoever (veganism).
That is why vegetarianism is a moral issue for how can we justify causing
the suffering and death of millions upon millions of animals if it is
unnecessary?
Meat eating is certainly among our most ancient practices (though it is worth
pointing out that most of the world's human population has always been, and still
is largely vegetarian and see 1) but then so are slavery, murder
and war. The antiquity if a practice is neither a guarantee of its morality nor
a justification for it.
Despite the desperate leaflets and posters put out by The Meat and
Livestock Commission this idea is obsolete. Numerous medical studies have
found vegans and vegetarians to be not only healthy but generally
healthier than people who eat meat.
The British Medical Association has stated that "vegetarians have lower
rates of obesity, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, large bowel
disorders and gall-stones".
Other research has added to this list osteoporosis, kidney stones,
diabetes, gout, arthritis, appendicitis, angina, haemorroids, varicose
veins and diverticular disease.
Vegans enjoy the same benefits and some of them to a greater degree.
The human digestive system is very resilient and adaptable. We can
certainly eat moderate amounts of meat as part of a balanced diet and
still be healthy.
The point is that we can maintain perfect health without any meat at
all and we are therefore causing the suffering and death of millions upon
millions of animals every year for no better reasons than material profit
and the taste of their flesh. An individual should find this morally
untenable even after a very minimal consideration of animal rights.
See 4.
Human beings are the only animals on earth who drink the milk of another
species. This is not an ancient practice either, we thrived for hundreds
of thousands of years without it and in fact it has been estimated that
two thirds of the world's population cannot even digest it.
Whether you choose to describe our use of animal milk as natural or
not is irrelevant. The point is that we do not need it and we
therefore cannot justify the suffering and death we cause in obtaining it
(see 11 and 12).
Milk contains some valuable nutrients for those who are able to digest it but
these can all be better obtained on a vegan diet without risk of the unpleasant
side effects associated with milk (see 9) and without the
suffering and death involved in the dairy industry (see 11 and
12).
It has been estimated that 90 per cent of the world's population is
deficient in the enzyme lactase, necessary for the digestion of milk sugar
(lactose). This natural deficiency is quite harmless unless you drink
milk in which case you can suffer symptoms such as chronic or occasional
diarrhoea, bloating, flatulence, abdominal pains and possibly, in older
women, osteoporosis.
Intolerance to milk is the commonest of all food allergies. Symptoms
include asthma, eczema, skin rashes, chronic nasal and sinus problems,
tonsillitis, ulcerative colitis, bowel irregularity, hyperactivity,
depression, migraines and some forms of arthritis.
Cow's milk can cause gastro-intestinal bleeding in infants leading to
anaemia and there is a proven link milk consumption and senile cataracts.
In this country dairy products account for half our saturated fat
intake, making them a high risk factor in heart disease -- our biggest
killer.
This is a very naive view. Such idyllic farmyard scenes are a thing of
the distant past. The modern dairy cow has her calf taken away from her
when it is 1-3 days old.
The least healthy calves are usually slaughtered at a few days old (after
enduring a distressing trip to market) and then processed into pet food,
pies and rennet for cheese making.
Some of the females go on to become dairy herd replacements. Other
calves are sold at market at 1-2 weeks old to be reared for beef
production. 80 per cent of our beef is a by-product of the dairy
industry.
Every year a quarter of a million calves are exported to Europe,
often in appalling conditions, for veal products. They are kept in
isolation in 5' x 2' crates in which they are unable even to turn around.
They are given no bedding (in case they try to eat it) and are fed only on
a liquid diet devoid of iron and fibre to keep their flesh pale and
anaemic. After 3-5 months they are slaughtered. They probably wouldn't
have lived much longer anyway.
Over 170,000 calves under 3 months old die each year due to poor
husbandry and appalling treatment at markets.
From about 2 years of age the modern dairy cow spends 9 months of every
year pregnant. Her calf is taken away from her at 1-3 days old causing
them both terrible distress. She is then milked for 10 months during
which time she is forced to produce 10 times the amount of milk her calf
would have taken. It is not surprising that every year a third of our
dairy cows suffer from mastitis -- a painful inflammation of the udder.
To increase her milk yield the cow is fed on high protein
concentrates but this is often not enough and she may be forced to
break down her own body tissues to keep up with the continual demand
("milking off her back"). This commonly leads to a condition called
acidosis which can make her lame -- lameness affects 25% of our dairy cows
every year.
At about 5 years old, spent and exhausted, she is slaughtered. Her
natural life span would have been around 20 years. (80 per cent of our
been is a by-product of the dairy industry.)
Cows cannot help producing milk any more than they can help producing
urine.
Since the 1950s the dairy cow has been subjected to ever more
intensive farming methods. Her suffering now is greater than it has
ever been. In that same period her yield has increased 5 fold.
Early humans certainly did eat eggs but we must clearly distinguish
between the opportunistic stone age gatherer and the modern intensive
egg farmers who, in the UK alone, keep 30 million hens in tiny cages,
without room even to spread their wings and who kill 35-50 million male
chicks every year simply because they have no use for them.
The point is that we do not need eggs and can therefore maintain perfect
health without them. We therefore cannot justify the suffering and death
we cause in obtaining them (see 17 and 18).
Eggs are nutritious but they can also carry salmonella and are a very
common cause of allergies. All their nutrients can easily be obtained on
a vegan diet without the health risks and without the enormous cruelty
involved in their production (see 17 and 18).
In the wild a hen will build herself a nest and lay about 6 eggs in as
many days. If any of these are lost she is usually able to replace them,
provided she has access to enough food. It is this ability to keep laying
that the modern egg farmer exploits but in doing so frustrates one of the
hen's most fundamental instincts: to reproduce.
A hen's ovaries are controlled by light which on a battery farm is
carefully regulated to simulate continuous summertime. It is this,
combined with selective breeding and a carefully controlled diet that
results in the modern battery hen's high output.
Conditions on a battery farm are appalling. Five birds, each with a
wingspan of 32 inches are kept in cages only 20 inches wide. Their feet
often become deformed from continuous standing on a sloping wire mesh.
They can never perch, ground- scratch, dust bathe or nest. Lack of
exercise leads to fatty liver syndrome and brittle bones. Most of them
eventually become psychotic. These birds are not "content" and yet they
still lay. They will even continue to lay when seriously injured -- they
simply cannot help it.
Like most animals, chickens produce equal numbers of male and female
offspring. But even the most conscientious free-range egg farmer has no
use for the males so they are killed, in the millions, by gassing,
crushing, suffocation, decompression or drowning.
The hens are kept for about 2 years until their productivity
declines. They are then sent for slaughter. Their natural life span
would have been 5-7 years.
Wild hens rarely lay unfertilized eggs. Domestic hens only do so because
they are being manipulated by humans. The point is not that the eggs may go to
waste but that in manipulating the hens to produce these eggs we inflict the most
appalling cruelty on them (see 17 and 18).
The North Sea, where 40% of our fish is caught, has become so polluted
that some fishermen now wear protective face masks to prevent the rashes
and other skin disorders that contact with the water can cause.
Small amounts of fish from unpolluted waters (if there are any) probably
will not do you any harm. But there are three things to remember here:
firstly, it has been clearly established that fish can and do suffer
when they are caught (see 21, 22 and
132); secondly, fishing has already had a
disastrous effect on the environment (fish stocks are now at their lowest
level ever); and thirdly, any putative benefits of eating fish are easily
obtained from a vegan diet. The ethical choice is clear.
Fish have a complex nervous system and all the sensory organs necessary
for the sensation of pain. It is therefore logical to assume that they do
feel pain.
A three year investigation by a panel of scientists and representatives
from angling and shooting organisations ( the Medway Report) concluded
that fish, like other vertebrates are capable of suffering.
Why should a free-range animal be any more deserving of an unnecessary
death than any other animal? The suggestion that individuals should pay
for their freedom with their lives is moral nonsense. All animals should
be free and we have no right to deprive them of that freedom or their
lives for such trivial reasons as money, the taste of their flesh or the
pursuit of 'sport'.
UK fishing vessels catch 500,000 tons of fish every year and there are no
specific regulations governing their slaughter.
They die of shock, asphyxiation, crushing by the weight of the catch and
freezing on ice bedding. Many, like cod, haddock, plaice, skate and sole
can still be alive when landed and gutted. Eels are killed by burying in
salt (it takes 2 hours) or are chopped into pieces and boiled.
Farmed fish such as salmon and trout are bled to death with or without
stunning. Trout are starved for 3-6 days beforehand and may simply to
taken from the water and packed in ice for transport to the market, taking
up to 14 minutes to die (see also 132).
Protein deficiency is almost unheard of in the West. Vegans certainly
needn't worry, the average vegan diet easily fulfills the daily protein
recommendations of the Department of Health, World Health Organization
(WHO) and the National Committee on Nutrition Education (NACNE).
On of the problems with animal proteins is that they usually come with
saturated fats and so are a major risk factor in heart disease -- our
biggest killer.
Plant proteins on the other hand are associated with dietary fibre which
is one of the most important parts of a healthy diet. In fact vegans as a
dietary group have been found to be the most likely of all to achieve
their daily fibre requirement.
The proteins in animal products are very highly concentrated and most
people who eat meat take in far more protein than their bodies can cope
with. This can lead to conditions like gout, arthritis, rheumatism,
fibrositis and deficiencies in niacin, vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium and
other minerals.
A high protein diet also puts enormous strain on the pancreas -- an
organ that produces enzymes for the digestion of proteins but also for
fighting cancer. It is worth remembering that 147,000 (1981) people die
of cancer every year in Britain.
It is not widely known that most vegetables contain useful amounts of
protein. Particularly rich sources include nuts, pulses, grains, seeds,
green leafy vegetables and potatoes.
The average vegan diet not only supplies twice the minimum daily
requirement of iron but also up to three times the daily requirement of
vitamin C. Vitamin C enhances the absorption of iron in the body,
consequently vegans rarely suffer from anaemia.
Studies have shown the incidence of anaemia in vegetarians and meat
eaters to be roughly the same.
Rich plant sources of iron include dried fruits, whole grains nuts,
green leafy vegetables, seeds, pulses, molasses, and seaweeds. Using iron
pots and pans can also contribute to a dietary intake.
There have been no reports of calcium deficiencies in vegans. It has been
shown that animal protein causes the body to excrete calcium more quickly
than plant protein does. This may be one reason why vegans and
vegetarians are less at risk from osteoporosis.
Rich plant sources of calcium include tofu (contains more than four
times the calcium of cow's milk), green leafy vegetables, dried fruit,
nuts, seeds, molasses and seaweeds.
Vitamin D is produced by the action of the sunlight on the skin. Although
it is available in fortified foods like margarine, a little fresh air
every day (even if it's cloudy) is all you need.
The human body needs only minute amounts of vitamin B12 and is able to
conserve it when supplies are scarce. Deficiency is extremely rare and
actually doesn't affect vegans any more than it affects nonvegans. It is
usually caused by an inability to absorb the vitamin rather than a dietary
deficiency.
Vitamin B12 is produced by bacteria in the small intestine, it is
possible that the body can absorb all it needs from there. Not enough
research has been done yet, but it may explain how some life-long vegans,
who never take supplements, remain in excellent health.
Vitamin B12 is not found in most plants but it is often present in
micro-organisms living on them. Although most of these organisms are
destroyed by modern chemical agriculture, it does suggest that fresh, raw
and organically grown produce could be a valuable source. But again, the
research has not yet been done.
Vegans generally needn't worry too much about B12 but it is probably
prudent to take a supplement occasionally.
Totally untrue as any vegan or vegetarian will tell you. Try it and see!
There are huge numbers of farm animals but it is not as if they would ever
be let loose overnight. They are only farmed in such large numbers
because it is profitable. As vegetarianism and veganism grow so the
demand for meat will decline and farm animals will be bred in decreasing
numbers. Those that are left will undoubtedly be will cared for by a
society that has put compassion before taste and profit.
See 30.
90% of the agricultural land in this country is used either directly on
indirectly to feed livestock. It has been estimated that a vegan Britain
could be self-sufficient in food on about 25% of the land currently being
farmed. This would free vast areas of land that could be returned to the
wild, all those millions of acres of sterile crops would become densely
populated ecosystems. There would be more animals in this country than
there have been for hundreds of thousands of years.
Other examples of customs and traditions include sexism, racism, torture,
public executions and witch burning.
For society to progress some customs and traditions have to be
abandoned.
90% of the agricultural land in this country is used either directly or
indirectly to feed livestock. We actually produce enough food to feed 250
million people.
There are over 500 million severely undernourished people in the world,
50 thousand die every day of starvation.
It has been estimated that a vegan Britain could be self-sufficient
in food on about 25% of the land currently being farmed.
The move towards vegetarianism/veganism is a gradual process. As less and
less people are employed in the animal-based industries so more and more
will find work in the industries that replace them. Some people may well
lose their jobs and every effort must be made to find them new
employment. But let us not forget that the animals upon whom their jobs
are based are losing their lives.
The people who buy meat are solely responsible for the deaths, in Britain
alone, of over 700 million animals every year. The killing is done at
their request and financed with their money. Their guilt is inescapable.
In their 1984 report, the Government's own advisory committee, the Farm
Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) said that animal welfare in British
slaughterhouses had a "low priority". They criticized the "woeful
ignorance" of the slaughterhouse staff, the continuous and unnecessary
use of painful electric goads to move the animals and thought it "highly
probable" that stunning methods used before killing did not render the
animals insensitive to pain. All in all they made 117 recommendations for
improvement, only a few of which have ever been implemented.
The conditions at slaughter though are not the main issue. It is the
killing itself that is wrong and it remains wrong however 'humanely' it is
done. Would we ever excuse a child murderer for killing his victims
'humanely'?
Animals that are bred for food are just as capable of suffering as their
wild counterparts and it is their suffering which is at issue.
Animals are not a means to a human end; they are independent,
free-thinking individuals with their own needs and desires. We have no
need and therefore no right to cause them suffering and death.
Surely it is better for an animal born into a short miserable and painful
life ending in a violent death that it was never born at all. Which would
you prefer?
Not having known anything better does not alleviate the suffering of the
animal. Its fundamental desires remain and it is the frustration of those
desires that is a great part of its suffering. There are so many
examples: the dairy cow who is never allowed to raise her young, the
battery hen who can never walk or stretch her wings, the sow who can never
build a nest or root for food in the forest litter etc. Eventually we
frustrate the animal's most fundamental desire of all -- to live.
So have humans but that does not give you a reason or excuse to kill
someone.
Although vegetarianism has become widely accepted now, veganism is still
regarded with suspicion by most people. This will only change as veganism
grows, so rather than an excuse for complacency it is a reason in itself
to do what you can now.
The priorities are clear, no animal should have to suffer or die to
save you a little social inconvenience. Any life is worth more than
that.
To cause the suffering and death of others for pleasure is wrong. This
is common moral sense and is believed by most people in the world.
Surely, in our endless ingenuity, we can find other ways to enjoy
ourselves?
In their lifetime the average British meat-eater eats 36 pigs, 36 sheep, 8
cattle and 550 poultry. That may be only a comparatively tiny
contribution to the meat industry but vegetarianism grows. I was inspired
by others to become vegetarian (and later vegan), people have followed me
and still others have followed them. We can all make a difference because
none of us is alone.
If the number of vegetarians in this country only doubled it would save
60 million lives every year.
You cannot justify or defend a practice on the grounds that it is
profitable. After all, a great many crimes are very profitable too.
We should ask ourselves not how much an animal's life is worth to us but
how much it is worth to the animal -- for whom it is everything.
Animals have been forced into adaptations that increase their productivity
by straining their bodies often beyond their physical limits.
Typical examples include the dairy cow who may go lame as she breaks
down her own body tissues to produce 10 times her natural yield (see 12),
and broiler chickens, 6% of whom die from the physical strain of
increasing their body weight 50-60 times in seven weeks.
Forced adaptations only increase the suffering of farm animals.
Animal products, especially meat and cheese are the most expensive of all
our staple food stuffs. The more of them you cut out and replace with
the much cheaper (and healthier) fruit and vegetables the more money you
are going to save.
Animals become pests not through their own faults but through ours. Many
are escapees from fur farms, feral pets or were deliberately introduced to
the wild for 'sport'. On farmland the ecosystem is thrown out of
balance. Any animals suited to the particular crop being grown quickly
multiply. We cannot justify killing these animals for what are our
mistakes. We must find other solutions.
In the wild there is sadly very little we can do. In the end it will be
the animals themselves who limit their own numbers as the environment
adjusts to accommodate them.
On farmland though, there is a great deal we can do and most of the
lessons have already been learned. For thousands of years tribal peoples
all over the world have used farming methods based on natural ecosystems
where potential pest populations are self-regulating. These ideas are now
being explored in organic farming and permaculture.
Unfortunately I cannot go into detail here on such an enormous subject.
It has been estimated that a vegan Britain could be self-sufficient in
food on about 25% of the land currently being farmed. This would free
vast areas that could be returned to wildlife.
The land is not something we own; it is something we share. We must use
it responsibly, respecting the needs of the animals we share it with and
taking only what we need.
Pregnant women have special dietary needs and must always take care to
ensure they receive all the nutrients that they and their developing
children need. These nutrients can all be easily obtained on vegan and
vegetarian diets.
A 1987 survey found that a well-planned vegan diet during pregnancy
could reduce the incidence of pre-eclampsia.
The British Medical Journal report 'Nutrition and Health' states that:
"the vegetarian diet is adequate for the nutritional needs of infants".
Vegan and vegetarian children thrive. Vegan children in particular tend
to be slimmer than their peers and therefore less prone to obesity-related
diseases.
The basic principles of healthy eating are not difficult to grasp and have
nowadays become almost common knowledge.
The same principles apply whether you be vegan, vegetarian or otherwise:
eat more fresh fruit, vegetables, and wholefoods and cut down on saturated
fats, sugar, salt and alcohol.
There is nothing in animal products that has to be carefully compensated
for (except, perhaps, vitamin B12. See 28). Many of them
do us a lot more harm than good (see 4, 9,
15 and 20). Cutting out animal products
only makes a 'healthy' diet healthier.
To experience suffering you must have a central nervous system to feel
pain and a degree of intelligence to suffer from that pain or to feel
grief. A plant has neither. We therefore have no reason to believe that
they suffer.
We attribute rights to an individual because without those rights they may
suffer. As plants are incapable of suffering (see 54)
they cannot possess rights.
This does not excuse the wanton destruction of plant life as is happening now all
over the world because we animals, who do possess rights, depend on those plants
for our survival. Without plant life there can be no life on Earth.
See 22.
True, but more relevant is the fact that to keep us in animal products we
don't need we feed the livestock alone in this country with enough food
for 250 million people.
There are over 500 million severely undernourished people in the world.
Thirty million die of starvation every year.
It is not the eating of meat that is wrong but the killing of animals
unnecessarily. As meat eating is unnecessary and generally requires the
killing of an animal, it usually follows that meat eating is wrong.
If, however, you managed to obtain some meat without killing an animal
(or by paying someone else to kill it for you) -- for example, by
stumbling across an animal that was already dead -- then I can see no
moral objection to your eating it. Of course this also applies to human
meat.
Recent archeological evidence suggests that early humans were much more
inclined toward scavenging than hunting.
Bees are astoundingly complex creatures, they have memory and an ability
to apply it to novel situations. They have an intricate social structure
and are able to communicate detailed information to each other.
Millions upon millions of bees are killed every year in commercial honey
production both intentionally and unintentionally.
It is difficult to say to what degree a creature so vastly different to
us is capable of suffering but we don't need honey -- so surely it would
be better to spare the lives of these miraculous creatures?
HTML by: Jonathan Esterhazy /
Manitoba Animal Rights Coalition /
jester@cc.umanitoba.ca