Imagine your favorite animal. Whether it be a cow, a pig, a fish, a cat, or a dog. How do you feel knowing that hundreds of these animals are killed every single day for people to consume. Do you ever wonder how the meat was produced or how the animals were killed? Or do you just worry about how good the meat tastes. It’s hard to give up eating something you’ve been exposed to all of your life, but I guarantee you will live a healthier, guilt free life. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is the largest animal rights organization in the world, with more than 3 million members and supporters. PETA focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most: on factory farms, in the clothing trade, in laboratories, and in the entertainment industry. The abuse that animals have to go through is heartbreaking, sickening and cruel. More than 16 billion animals are killed for food every year in the U. S.
Farmers cut off baby chickens beaks so that when they are placed into their tiny cages, they wont peck the other chicks that they have to share their cage with. Chickens on large farms don’t even have enough room to stretch their wings, and hen’s cages are built so that every egg they lay rolls away from them, and onto a conveyor belt to be collected and sold. When the hens cannot produce anymore eggs, the farmer first stops feeding them. Farmers have discovered that starving the hens makes them produce more eggs for a little while. Then, when the hens finally can’t produce any more eggs, they are driven to a slaughterhouse and are killed for meat. On meat farms, chickens are given hormones so that they grow faster and bigger, until they grow so large that they can barely stand. Hens that are raised naturally can live up to 20 years, but on large egg farms they only live up to 2 years. Hancock 2 Similar to chickens, cows get their horns cut off so that they don’t attack the other cows that they share their cramped space with.
They also get branded, which cause third-degree burns. (peta. org) Hormones are chemicals that are produced naturally in the bodies of all animals, including humans. They are chemical messages released into the blood by hormone-producing organs that travel to and affect different parts of the body. Hormones may be produced in small amounts, but they control important body functions such as growth, development and reproduction. Certain hormones can make young animals gain weight faster.
They help reduce the waiting time and the amount of feed eaten by an animal before slaughter in meat industries. In dairy cows, hormones can be used to increase milk production. Hormones can increase the profit of the meat and dairy industries. Lifetime exposure to natural steroid hormone estrogen is also associated with an increased risk for breast cancer. People are concerned whether the hormones we consume affect human health. Steroid hormones are usually released into the animal from a pellet, which is an ear implant, that is put under the skin of the ear. The ears of the animals are thrown away once they’re slaughtered. There is no reason why people must eat meat. An emerging consensus among health organizations, government health agencies, and nutritionists is that the best diet contains little to no meat.
You can live a healthy, normal life without eating animal meat. Vegetarians have lower risk of obesity, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Eating red meat increases the chance of getting breast cancer, colon cancer, heart disease and strokes. (“Is it healthy to be a vegetarian? ) Americans eat five time more protein then is actually needed. The intake of too much protein can cause a bone disorder. One of the main things to be considered in a vegetarians diet is protein. Whole grains, vegetables, seeds, and nuts are a way to get important nutrients. Vegetarians also tend to have stronger immune systems and, on average, live 10 Hancock 3 years longer than meat-eaters do. In conclusion, taking meat out of your diet would be very beneficial to your body as well as to society.Animals wouldn’t be tortured, you wouldn’t have to worry about hormones being in your food, and you would live an overall healthier, humane life. Although people are exposed to meat on a daily basis, once you educate yourself on the benefits on being a vegetarian, your outlook on what you consume will change drastically.
References
- | PETA. org. N. p. , n. d. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. lt;http://www. peta. org/>. Marcus, Erik. Meat market: animals, ethics, & money. Boston, Mass. : Brio Press, 2005.
- Print. vegetarian’, saying that He was a ‘convenient, and that if alm-givers. “Why People Must Be Vegetarian.
- ” GodsDirectContact. org: Spiritual Discovery – Quan Yin Method . N. p. , n. d. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. <http://www. godsdirectcontact. org/eng/booklet/vegetarian. html>. “Is it healthy to be a vegetarian?. ” Is it healthy to be a vegetarian?. N. p. , n. d. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. <http://vegetarianshealth. blogspot. com
