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why vegan- for the animals
Transport and Slaughter
Animals being hauled to slaughter go many hours without food, water, or rest, while being exposed to extreme temperatures. About 10% die in transit, and those too sick or injured to walk are dragged by chains to the kill floor. At the slaughterhouse, the vast majority of animals are not stunned or given any pain relief before being hung and having their throats slit.
According to a 10-year investigation based on interviews with slaughterhouse workers and USDA inspectors, many animals actually survive the slaughter process. Many -- alive and conscious -- are skinned, dismembered, gutted, scalded, and drowned in their own blood. They are then cut into smaller pieces, wrapped in cellophane, and presented at the supermarket counter.
Fish slaughter plants in the U.S. make no effort to stun fish, who are fully conscious as they go down the slaughter line. Their gills are cut, and they are left to bleed to death, convulsing in pain. Large fish, such as salmon, are sometimes bashed on the head with a wooden bat called a “priest,” and many are seriously injured but still alive and suffering when they are cut open.
Smaller fish, like trout, are often killed by simply draining water away and leaving them to slowly suffocate or by packing them in ice while they are still fully conscious. Because fish are cold-blooded, allowing them to suffocate on ice prolongs their suffering, leaving them to experience excruciating pain for as long as 15 minutes before they die.
Wildlife
In addition to the ten billion animals killed by animal agriculture each year for human consumption, hundreds of thousands of prairie dogs, coyotes, wolves, mountain lions, bears, bison, and other wild animals are shot, maimed, poisoned, and burned alive by farmers and government agents to keep them from interfering with agricultural operations. Tens of millions of starlings and blackbirds are poisoned each year to keep them from eating animal feed.
An even greater threat to wildlife is posed by the destruction of their habitats. Animal agriculture turns hundreds of acres of forest, wetlands, and other habitats into grazing and croplands to feed farm animals.