i can't take it anymore!!!!!

in science class i'm studying ecology. so we're going into food chains. which means we're studying some stuff about slaughterhouses, as they relate to food chains**. and when we were researching something and we discovered they sometimes ground up chickens alive, EVERYONE thought it was the coolest thing they've ever heard. whenever theres some gruesome sad details, everyone freaks out about it- and not in a good way.

i'm a HUGE animal lover, strict vegetarian (going to become a vegan) i want to become a veteranarian, and i'm a member of PETA. i already knew all those horrible facts...it kind of comes with being a vegetarian.

some of my friends were even talking about this stuff, and it pissed me off. this has been going on for weeks and i CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!! WHY  are people SO IMMATURE and

...GAH.

sorry for the rant. just had to get it out. any advice?

**edited- didnt make sense, sorry :(

What do you mean you are "going into slaughterhouses"?  Are you actually seeing this process in action?  Make sure it's not just a teacher just telling you this.  I'm sorry, but teachers can sometimes pass along false information.  However, if it is actually happening then that is quite inhumane.

Yeah it's not all crap... read the book called "Slaughterhouse". Seriously I'm not even a vegetarian but it made me never want to eat meat again. 

You have to remember that joking around is a way to "cope". I guarantee if you got each of your classmates into a room completely alone (or if they were on their own computers) where they learned or saw a video about those facts, they would feel much different.

:( I really do sympathise.

I know what you mean..... I am not a vegetarian, but I do buy all organic meat and I investigate if it is HUMANELY RAISED AND PROCESSED. One of my favorite country singers Miranda Lambert was recently quoted saying "If God did want us to eat animals he wouldnt have made them out of meat"

Basically the point is, yes animals die for food but NO they don't have to live and die in such horrible conditions. 

I totally sympathize with you. It makes me physically sick and start crying uncontrollably when I see or hear anything from peta, slaughter houses, etc.

To answer your question about WHY -- WHY ARE PEOPLE LIKE THAT? WHY ARE THEY IMMATURE? WHY DO THEY ACT LIKE THEY DONT CARE?

It's a coping mechanism to mask how they will be percieved on the outside. also... Ever heard of Out of Sight- Out of Mind? People think if they laugh about it and forget about it then really it never happened. 

It's the de-generation of the human culture, the take take take and give nothing back, the disrespect for animals and mother nature.

It's going on in your city, every day, in every country of the world.  I think as long as humans value the dollar$ more than they value another creatures life the suffering of these animals isn't going to end anytime soon.

lbaby- I think you have well thought out opinion on this matter (even for a carnovore! ) good points and well stated. I saw that you're new too, so welcome!

thx.....<3

when i was in 10th grade biology class, the teacher was having us dissect for a good portion of the semester. the kids in the class were aweful, laughing, throwing organs around, it was horrible. i also was a member of peta, vegetarian, etc. i was totally uncomfortable with it, and never intended to actually go through with it.

so one day i'd had enough and i walked out of class. i awaited my teacher out in the hallway, and we actually fought about it. he sent me to the principal's office, and i explained to her my feelings about it, and that i was absolutely not going to do it anymore. i said that i would be willing to do anything else as an alternative. so we spoke with the teacher about this (by the way, the teacher never liked me, and was sure i'd only been doing this because i was too lazy and wanted to get out of working).

he said i would have to come up with an alternative to his liking. so i ended up making models of the animals out of playdo, writing essays of each animal, and taking all the tests. it was at least 3 times as much work as the other kids had. but it was so satisfying to have done this, stand up for what i'd believed, and i totally showed my teacher up when he was forced to give me an A+!

also, they did a story in the newspaper about me and what i had done, and i was invited by peta to speak at the state house in front of all these VIP legislatures to try passing antivivisection laws. (didn't pass.) and my school then allowed others to find alternatives to dissecting if needed.

anyway, it was so worth the effort. maybe you could come up with something similar? i realize it's a different situation, but if you're really uncomfortable (and i don't blame you), you could talk to the teacher and see how s/he would like to handle it, maybe by talking to the class and telling them to shut the hell up? if your teacher doesn't take you seriously, you may need to talk to the principal or something.

you shouldn't have to be made uncomfortable in a classroom, no matter what.

Oh you poor thing. I'm a huge animal lover and vegetarian too and I just find it disgusting the way people treat animals. A young girl in my dance class knows I'm a vegetarian and she always says "I love cows, they're yummy to eat." It makes me sick. I'm so happy I was homeschooled.

did you know that you can now do the dissecting on computer programs now? i never had to do one but my younger sister did. she did not what to do the real thing so they gave her the option of doing it on the computer. i thought that was so much better and so did she.wounder why your school did not offer that?

because this was 15 years ago, and nothing like that was around... i'm so old! but hey, that's really cool, glad to hear it.

Ugh, it really sucks to read about an animal being "processed" in this forum.  Did this not bother anyone else? Using terms like that doesn't cover up that it's an animal being SLAUGHTERED, even if it is a "humane" method.

Animals are living creatures just like humans! Murder of a human being is not called "processing".

Someone posted this: "One of my favorite country singers Miranda Lambert was recently quoted saying "If God didn't want us to eat animals he wouldnt have made them out of meat""

 The rest of your post was agreeable to me, but I'm not sure how this quote contributed to your point.  That's the kind of "humerous" crap that meat-eaters use to feel better about their decisions. Surely, you see animals as more than a lump of meat?

I saw the "processing" of baby chicks on TV. I didn't watch it for long, but it was featured on an episode of "How it's made" and might be on you-tube. Basically male chics are a by-product of the egg industry and are useless to the company so they are ground up, and put into livestock feed.

Of course its cruel and disgusting, but not likely to change as the meat industries are interested in cheap food sources that fatten up animals faster. This also includes the use of chicken litter as a feed. Fortunately, there are laws now that prohibit cows and sheep from eating their own kind, but that doesn't mean they aren't fed other species, including euthanized pets. The book is old now, but I recommend "Mad Cowboy" for anyone interested in the way animal indistries are run.

You will never convince everyone or anyone that what you believe is right. You best bet is to be informed, and have a thick skin.

Survival of the fittest ... if chickens were not meant to be food for men, they'd be smarter or stronger =) ... see Charles Darwin.

Im a pseudo vegetarian through my wife ... I simply don't need to eat meat and its easier to cook one meal instead of two ... ever now and then Ill have a nice bloody steak though ... just to remind myself that I am not some sort of lower life form ... like a chicken.

 

D

That is only an evolutionary slip-up. Had the dinosaurs survived that meteor striking the planet, the chickens would be eating us. The "smart" equation doesn't hold much weight either. We don't eat mentally retarded people now do we?

I'm not disagreeing with your right to eat whatever or whomever you choose, just your argument itself.

It's also counterproductive trying to justify any of that on a vegetarian forum, and I find your approach a bit tactless.

Hello
lbalthazor

thanks for your comment!

The quote meant exactly what it says. It is an INEVITABLE fact of life, humans are going to eat meat! If you think I look at all animals as just a lump of meat I suggest reading the post again.

I am weak.

I can not even sit through a Peta video or an email about animal abuse for 2 minutes without crying uncontrollably and praying that my tears will save at-least one little animal's soul. That they will no longer feel pain. That maybe one other person will do the same, and the cycle will continue.

Then I watch the discovery channel and see animals killing animals! and I remember that this is the food chain. This is the cycle of life. We are human beings and should respect all life, give thanks for all food we receive and our good health.

Should Sharks in the ocean should stop eating little fish because it's slaughter? Should Lions stop eating gazelle because its slaughter? NO!

now..... if there was an OVERPOPULATION of SHARKS AND LIONS (LIKE THERE IS AN OVERPOPULATION OF HUMANS) then of-course the little fish and gazelle would be raised and killed in mass quantities. and I bet if the sharks and the lions could get together and form a money system and reap the benefits of factory-grown fishies and gazelles, they would be doing the exact same thing.

so we know that animals won't do that, because animals are balance and love in its purest form

Unfortunately, the leaders of this planet lack balance, and certainly do not have love on the top of their to-do list.

Our species has been consumed by greed, we are living longer and longer, we have overpopulated our planet to the point where mother earth is suffering. her children are suffering. The animals are suffering. Whether it be fighting dogs or diminishing species of animals all around the world DIEING from drought.

what has taken place is the slow slaughter of mother earth. not only the slaughter of processed farm animals.

all I said was that it is possible to make a conscious choice about where you buy the meat, and investigate to your full potential about how it is raised.

Original Post by lbaby6916:

Hello
lbalthazor

thanks for your comment!

The quote meant exactly what it says. It is an INEVITABLE fact of life, humans are going to eat meat! If you think I look at all animals as just a lump of meat I suggest reading the post again.

I am weak.

I can not even sit through a Peta video or an email about animal abuse for 2 minutes without crying uncontrollably and praying that my tears will save at-least one little animal's soul. That they will no longer feel pain. That maybe one other person will do the same, and the cycle will continue.

Then I watch the discovery channel and see animals killing animals! and I remember that this is the food chain. This is the cycle of life. We are human beings and should respect all life, give thanks for all food we receive and our good health.

Should Sharks in the ocean should stop eating little fish because it's slaughter? Should Lions stop eating gazelle because its slaughter? NO!

now..... if there was an OVERPOPULATION of SHARKS AND LIONS (LIKE THERE IS AN OVERPOPULATION OF HUMANS) then of-course the little fish and gazelle would be raised and killed in mass quantities. and I bet if the sharks and the lions could get together and form a money system and reap the benefits of factory-grown fishies and gazelles, they would be doing the exact same thing.

so we know that animals won't do that, because animals are balance and love in its purest form

Unfortunately, the leaders of this planet lack balance, and certainly do not have love on the top of their to-do list.

Our species has been consumed by greed, we are living longer and longer, we have overpopulated our planet to the point where mother earth is suffering. her children are suffering. The animals are suffering. Whether it be fighting dogs or diminishing species of animals all around the world DIEING from drought.

what has taken place is the slow slaughter of mother earth. not only the slaughter of processed farm animals.

all I said was that it is possible to make a conscious choice about where you buy the meat, and investigate to your full potential about how it is raised.

The difference between humans "being part of the food chain" and TRUE CARNIVORES like sharks and lions is that...

1. They are true carnivores.  Humans are not.  Humans have bodies designed to support an omnivore diet and an herbivore diet, but not a TRUE CARNIVORE diet like sharks, cats, dogs, lions, etc.  True carnivores have teeth designed to rip, not grind.  Our teeth can snap and grind (think biting a carrot with your front teeth, chewing with your molars).  True carnivores also have much shorter digestive tracts than we do. Our digestive tracts aren't meant for the mass amounts of meat that most humans now eat.  Our bodies are designed for a mostly meat free diet (i.e. foods that digest quickly... our digestive tracts are so long so that we aren't pooping all the time), meat digests slowly, so therefore a shorter digestive tract is the ideal for a true carnivore.
2. We as human animals have brains with the cognitive ability to make moral choices, and as far as we know, we are the only animals on the planet with that ability..

And if you had read my post, you would see that I did say that I agreed with your post, just not the quote.  You used it as if it were a defense for eating meat and I thought that was wrong.  You simply weren't clear in your post.  I wasn't attacking, just pointing that out.

====

 

On to the rest of your post, there is a huge difference between the animal food chain and animals raising farm animals in inhumane conditions then killing them, even though, technically, humans dont' need to eat animals.

 

But overall, your post makes little sense to me.  If you believed such things about animals, you would have some difficulty eating them.  Fact.  You can argue that all you want, but I know that I felt the same way before I turned veggie and I admit that I was a hypocrite and weak...before i turned veggie at 17.

 

P.s. Thanks for your post kindoflikessarah....you made your point very well.

 

It comes down to people on an individual basis. It's YOUR choice what you put in and on your body, whether its meat, vegetable, or fried twinkies. You are not required to justify how you live to anyone but yourself, ever, (assuming its in accordance with the law).

I agree with lbaby6916

You can cry and hew all you want about inhumain conditions of livestock, but the fact is that I can show you things that are just as bad in nature. 

The other fact is that as "reasoning" human beings, we have the capability to change this.  We do not exercise this capability because the almighty dollar trumps ethics everytime.

I personally deplore feedlots and factory farms, but applaud family farms and organic farmers.

Human's aren't designed to be herbivors, they are designed to be omnivores.  Bears, pigs, and monkeys are all omnivores as well.  I'll agree that humans (outside of the third world) eat way too much meat, unlike bears, pigs and monkeys.

The fact is that all diets involve animal deaths, even vegan diets.  How many animals died to make that pasta?

http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ncs/newsarch/2002 /Mar02/vegan.htm

Although I am not in 100% agreement with the science used, this study does make a valid point.  And if you include insects as living beings, the number gets much higher.

The fact of the matter is that for some animals to live others must die.  A vegan diet will cause deaths, as will an omnivorous diet.