Animal Exploitation

Animal Exploitation
Zoe E. Masongsong, M.S.
November 23, 2009

Culture
Learned. Process of learning one's culture is called enculturation.
Shared by the members of a society. No "culture of one."
Patterned. People in a society live and think in ways that form definite patterns.
Mutually constructed through a constant process of social interaction.
Symbolic . Culture, language and thought are based on symbols and symbolic meanings.
Arbitrary. Not based on "natural laws" external to humans, but created by humans according to the "whims" of the society.
Example: Standards of beauty.
Internalized. Habitual. Taken-for-granted. Perceived as "natural."
Dr. Kathleen A. Dahl, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Eastern Oregon University, http://www2.eou.edu/~kdahl/cultdef.html

Social Norms
Social norms are the rules for how people should act in a given group or society.
http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.cfm?term=Social%20Norms

‘ It’s Okay to Exploit Animals’
Exploit:
1 ~ to make productive use of : utilize
< exploiting your talents>
< exploit your opponent's weakness>
2 ~ to make use of meanly or unfairly for one's own advantage
< exploiting migrant farm workers>
http:www.merriamwebster.com

Natural Reactions to Exploitation…

“ The question is not, Can they reason ? nor, Can they talk ? but, Can they suffer ?”
Jeremy Bentham, Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation , 1789
“ If a being suffers, there can be no moral justification for refusing to take that suffering into consideration.”
Peter Singer, Animal Rights and Human Obligations , 1989
Voices Resisting Social Norms

What is “Animal Rights”?
Animal rights is the philosophy of allowing non-human animals to have the most basic rights that all sentient beings desire: the freedom to live a natural life free from human exploitation, unnecessary pain and suffering, and premature death.
http://stopanimalcruelty.co.uk/netcuwatch/wiar.htm
Animal rights in a nutshell is the belief that all animals (which includes human beings) should not be abused, enslaved, tortured, murdered or otherwise cruelly treated.
http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/animalrights.htm

Types of Animal Exploitation
Products:
Clothing
Food
Testing of cosmetics
Entertainment:
Aquariums and Zoos
Circuses
Rodeos
Hunting
Fishing
Pets
Medical and psychological experiments

Animal Exploitation = $$ Profit $$
Manufacturing Products from Animals:
Leather, fur, wool, cashmere, angora, mohair, down, feathers
Beef, pork, fish, seafood, milk, cheese, gelatin, eggs
Selling the Services of Animals:
Seeing eye dogs, police dogs
Shamu, Keiko, Ling Ling
Dolphin therapy, safaris
Performing elephants and tigers
Rodeo ponies, steers, bulls
Deer, elk, moose, pheasants, quail
Salmon, trout, marlin, swordfish, whales
Cats, dogs, iguanas, parrots, pythons, hamsters
Subjects for medical and psychological experiments

Manufacturing Leather Products

Manufacturing Wool Products

Manufacturing Fur Products

Animal Product Manufacturing
The number of animals killed for fur in the U.S. each year is approximately equal to the human population of Illinois.
http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/path.html

The number of animals killed in experimentation in the U.S. each year is approximately equal to the human population of Texas.

The number of mammals and birds farmed and slaughtered in the U.S. each year is approximately equal to one and two-thirds the entire human population of Earth.

Over 99% of the Animals Killed in the U.S. Each Year Die to be Eaten

Pigs in Perpetual Prison “ Real-life ‘Babes’ see no sun in their limited lives, with no hay to lie on, no mud to roll in. The sows live in tiny cages, so narrow they can’t even turn around.” Morley Safer, 60 Minutes , 9/19/97

No Parole for Chickens

Battery Cages for Egg-Laying Hens

Manure Pit Under Battery Cages

“Free Range” Poultry VEGANISM

“ Home on the Range”? ~Most Cows Live in Feed Lots VEGANISM

By-Product of the Dairy Industry VEGANISM

Industrial Fishing VEGANISM

Animal Exploitation ↔ Human Exploitation
Animal exploitation is the model for exploiting humans
Slavery
Sweatshops
Slaughterhouse workers
Animal-product manufacturing causes environmental destruction

Human Supremacy  White Supremacy
“ Not only did the domestication of animals provide the model and inspiration for human slavery and tyrannical government, but it laid the groundwork for western hierarchical thinking and European and American racial theories that called for the conquest and exploitation of ‘lower races,’ while at the same time vilifying them as animals so as to encourage and justify their subjugation .”
Charles Patterson, Eternal Treblinka , 2002, p. 27

Human Supremacy  White Supremacy
“ Practices used in the slave trade, for example, such as chaining , whipping , branding and castration , were first used to control and dominate animals…”
Mark Hawthorne, Animal Liberation is Human Liberation , 2007, http://www.opednews.com

The Vocabulary of Exploitation
Monkey
Ape
Gorilla
Pig
Chicken
Rat
Cow
Dog
Bitch
Sheep
Animal
Beast
Brutes
Vermin
Adapted from Mark Hawthorne, Animal Liberation is Human Liberation , 2007, http://www.opednews.com

Human Rights Violations in the Animal-Product Industries

Systematic human rights violations:
Employers put workers at predictable risk of serious physical injury even though the means to avoid such injury are known and feasible.
Meatpacking work has extraordinarily high rates of injury. Workers injured on the job may then face dismissal.
Immigrant workers who are undocumented, as many are, risk deportation if they seek to organize and to improve conditions.
Human Rights Violations in the Animal-Product Industries Human Rights Watch, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/usa0105/

Environmental Exploitation
“ The way that we breed animals for food is a threat to the planet . It pollutes our environment while consuming huge amounts of water, grain, petroleum, pesticides and drugs. The results are disastrous .”
Dr. David Brubaker, Center for a Livable Future, Johns Hopkins University, Environmental News Network, 9/20/99

Environmental Exploitation
“ Millions of gallons of liquefied feces and urine seeped into the environment from collapsed, leaking or overflowing storage lagoons [like the one shown above at a pig factory farm], and flowed into rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands and groundwater.”
www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/environment.html

“ By far the most important non-CO2 greenhouse gas is methane, and the number one source of methane worldwide is animal agriculture.” Environmental Protection Agency, 2004, http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/publications/ emissions

“ Methane is responsible for nearly as much global warming as all other non-CO2 greenhouse gases put together.” Hansen, James E. and Makiko Sato, “Trends of measured climate forcing agents”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 2001, http://www.pnas.org/cgi/ content/full/98/26/14778

= David Pimentel (ecologist), 1997, http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Aug97/livestock.hrs.html

Amount of Land Needed to Grow a Year’s Supply of Food MEAT-EATER VEGETARIAN VEGAN http://www.PETA2.org

Food for Thought…

How Americans Really Eat

What is Vegan?
Veganism is a philosophy and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose.
Vegans do not use or consume animal products of any kind.
The most common reasons for becoming a vegan are ethical commitment or moral convictions concerning animal rights, the environment, human health, and spiritual or religious concerns.
Various polls have reported vegans to be between 0.2% and 1.3% of the U.S. population.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan

Step 1: Start with Favorite Familiar Meals
Make a list of favorite meals and snacks (including those from restaurants where you eat often).
Identify meals that are vegetarian or that can be made meatless with a few small changes.
Most pizzerias will happily load your pizza with fresh veggies and skip the fatty cheese.
Chinese restaurants will keep the eggs out of you fried rice if you ask.
Adapted from http://www.earthsave.org/support/Transition.pdf Making the Transition to Healthy Food Choices

Step 2: Experiment with Substitutes
There is a stunning variety of soy and vegetable based meat substitutes on the market that make the transition to meatless meals easier than ever.
You’ll find a variety of veggie burgers, meatless hot dogs,meatless deli meats and other meat replacers in natural foods stores and even in many regular supermarkets.

Step 3: Broaden Your Horizons
Explore the cuisine of cultures that have perfected plant-based cuisine and add some exciting new foods to your meals.
Chinese
Thai
Japanese
Ethiopian
Greek

Step 4: Look Beyond Dairy & Eggs
Look for vegan versions of cheese, butter, yogurt, milk, and mayonnaise.
Soy
Grains (rice milk)
Nuts (almond milk)
Substitute these in recipes where dairy, eggs, or mayonnaise are called for.

What I Eat…

Animal Exploitation

by Zoe Masongsong on Jul 16, 2011

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