A Right To Live: Unless You Produce Eggs or Milk

Early in my days of animal advocacy, newly cognizant of the abuse and exploitation of animals for human benefit, I made the decision to reject the consumption of all meat, adopting a vegetarian lifestyle, along with the philosophy to never again eat anything “with a mother or a face.” However, as my years of advocating for society’s rejection of animal meat progressed, I recognized my clear discomfort when faced with the realities of the animal agriculture industry. Eventually, I admitted the ovo-lacto-guilt I experienced was derived from my own subconscious awareness of the inconsistencies between my values and my lifestyle choices and of my daily decision to give in to this cognitive dissonance, all for the sake of ease and periodic chocolate chip pancakes.

Now, vegetarians, and subscribers of the traditional Western diet alike, often ask me why ethical vegans (who are against murdering animals) do not drink cow's milk or consume eggs, reasoning that "chickens lay eggs anyways" and "a cow doesn’t have to be killed for it to be milked." Without any further arguments, these points are entirely accurate. However, many vegetarians defend their meat-free diets with “right to life” reasoning, maintaining the right of an animal to live and not be killed. Unfortunately, in the context of a vegetarian diet, this principle overlooks the system in which animal products and by-products are manufactured.

The production of animal products and byproducts (such as eggs, milk, fur, meat, and feathers) for human consumption is a commercial industry. Just like any industry, the ultimate goal is profit- minimum input for maximum output. This is a well-known fact yet rarely is it considered at length. For animals (such as layer hens and dairy cows) raised for their byproducts, the reality is a system with nearly 200 years of technological innovations designed to benefit from every scrap of their body. Therefore, dairy cows are not raised solely for their milk, nor layer hens for their eggs.

Seventy percent of ground beef sold in the United States is made from dairy cows, whose bodies are worn from an average four years of intense milk production. The little-known slaughter linked to the dairy industry is the production of veal, often considered a byproduct industry. In order to avoid delays in milk production, baby cows are taken from their mothers within as little as days after birth. The males are condemned to an almost immediate slaughter, while the females are either slaughtered or entered into the dairy industry. By drinking cow's' milk and supporting the dairy industry, consumers permit and promote the slaughter of animals.

The egg industry is responsible for countless deaths as well, beginning with 260 million male chicks whose lives serve no purpose in egg production. For many “spent” layer hens, who do not qualify for protection under the Humane Slaughter Act, the slaughterhouse is also their designated end. However, due to a declining market for spent hens and therefore a decline in profits, many layer hens now face death by asphyxiation. Clearly, the consumption of eggs from the egg industry permits and promotes the slaughter of animals.

It has become impossible to isolate any one sector; animal agriculture of all species has become a single, interconnected industry. Even beyond the typical examples, byproducts of animal agriculture are integrated into the most unsuspecting industries: refined white sugar cane is manufactured with the bone char of cattle, tennis racket strings are created with animal intestines, some beers are even produced using the swim bladders of fish. However, animals commercially raised for their meat and animals raised for their by-products are equally subjected to an unnatural life supplanted with cruel, utilitarian treatment and their lives end the same as well: being corralled up the ramp to a slaughterhouse. Consumption of any animal product or byproduct permits and promotes the slaughter of all animals. There is truly no option for affirmers of the “right to life” belief other than committing to veganism.

By adopting a vegan lifestyle completely void of all animal products and byproducts one can discover a sense of security and legitimacy in the belief that all living beings should have an absolute right to life. Veganism is the only lifestyle which holds this belief in consonance with the awareness of the reality of animal agriculture. I wholeheartedly assert that one cannot justifiably renounce the consumption of animal meat on moral grounds, citing “right to life” reasoning, without the concurrent renunciation of all animal products.

*The question of whether or not animals deserve a right to life has been much contested. Philosophers, theologians, ethicists, farmers, vegans, and vegetarians alike have contemplated what it means to have a claim to life, citing the interests principle, free will, moral reciprocity, dominionism. However, this particular article does not address any of these contentions; I’m only arguing against the validity of maintaining both an existing belief in animals’ right to live and a continued support of the modern animal agriculture industry.

References: 

1. Joy, Melanie. Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism: The Belief System That Enables Us to Eat Some Animals and Not Others. San Francisco: Conari Press, 2011.

2. "Veal: A Byproduct of the Cruel Dairy Industry." PETA. Accessed August 26, 2016. http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/animals-used-food-factsheets/veal-byproduct-cruel-dairy-industry/.

3. "Chickens." Farm Sanctuary. Accessed August 26, 2016. https://www.farmsanctuary.org/learn/factory-farming/chickens/.

Chinese dog meat trade fetches international opposition

    Throughout July, animal advocates achieved a few minor victories in the greater struggle against the Chinese dog meat trade. Over 1,400 dogs were spared from slaughter at the eleventh hour in the first few rescues coordinated by China Animal Protection Power (CAPP), a Humane Society International (HSI) task force (Humane Society International, 2016, July 1).

    Members of CAPP, a dog welfare advocacy group under the direction of HSI, spotted the dogs in trucks bound for slaughterhouses in the Yunnan province of southwest China. Activists intercepted the trucks and, with the aid of local authorities, engaged the drivers in rescue efforts lasting up to 50 hours. Although desperately needed food, water, and shade were provided to the dehydrated and exhausted dogs, at least 30 dogs did not survive this final leg of their inhumane treatment. The surviving dogs will receive veterinary care and proper treatment until they are healthy enough to be placed for adoption, thanks to funding by HSI (Humane Society International, 2016, July 1).

    These were the first efforts by the HSI task force which was established in late June by Humane Society International following the annual Yulin Dog Meat Trade Festival. Opposition to the festival, which is responsible for the annual slaughter of up to 10,000 dogs, has been the impetus for HSI’s growing anti-dog meat trade efforts (Humane Society International, 2016, June 20). The rescues are just one part of a multi-faceted campaign by HSI to abolish the dog meat trade across China and eventually Asia (Humane Society International, 2016).

    According to Humane Society’s Wayne Nacelle, the festival “is a terrifying and intense reminder of the horrors of the Chinese dog meat trade” (2016). In the past 6 years, 10,000 dogs are reported to have been slaughtered annually for the event; a mere fraction of the estimated 30 million dogs murdered in slaughterhouses per year around Asia. According to the World Health Organization, the dog meat trade “spreads rabies and increases the risk of cholera 20-fold,” due to the unhygienic conditions imposed on the dogs, both before and after their slaughter. Yulin did not have a historical industry for mass dog slaughter or consumption, until the festival’s 2010 creation by dog traders to improve profits (Humane Society International, 2016, June 20).

    Outcry against the festival has been international in scope, taking form as celebrity opposition, the introduction of a congressional resolution, and a world-wide supported petition. In the United States, outspoken celebrities including Ricky Gervais and Simon Cowell, have launched protests and social media campaigns against the dog meat festival (Humane Society International, 2016, July 1). On the governmental level, American citizens are sending a message to the Chinese government through a congressional resolution, communicating the lack of acceptance of dog as food in the Western world. Wayne Pacelle from the Humane Society states that,

The resolution, which has 27 original cosponsors, doesn’t have the force of law, but it’s an opportunity for the United States to urge the government of China and Yulin authorities to protect against pet dogs being stolen and sold into the meat trade. It calls for a ban on the killing and eating of dogs and urges China to enact an anti-animal cruelty law banning the dog meat trade” (2016).

Another major impact was made with the joint-petition by HSI, Beijing Mothers Against Cruelty, and Vshine, signed by 11 million people against the infamous dog meat festival (Denyer and Ginglu, 2016).

    Although clearly prevalent, the consumption of dog meat is not widespread in Chinese culture. According to Chinese polling company Horizon, the majority, 69.5 percent, of Chinese citizens have never eaten dog meat (Humane Society International, 2016, June 20). The practice is argued by Lu, Bayne, and Wang (2013) to have its roots in the resourcefulness of Chinese peasants during times of poverty. Proponents of dog meat consumption claim the traditional Chinese practice is thousands of years old and attribute to it a variety of health benefits. Although the consumption of “novel foods” including dogs, cats, bugs, and sharks fins, is a fad in relatively advanced Chinese cities, the Horizon poll reports that 51.7 percent of Chinese citizens support a complete ban on the dog meat trade. While opposition to institutional violence against dogs grows in China, advocacy by local groups has increased overall, often concentrating efforts on well-publicized events such as the notorious Yulin Dog Meat Festival.

    Many animal advocacy groups in China originated following the introduction of a translated copy of Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation in the 1990’s. However, the belief in animal rights is neither novel nor solely Western, as the Chinese Animal Protection Network points out, claiming “the three pillars of Chinese tradition, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, all have teachings regarding respect toward the lives of animals — they are the essence of animal rights.” (Lu, Bayne, and Wang, 2013). Nevertheless, upset revolving the dog meat trade and the festival is invariably led by “Younger generations of Chinese, who are becoming more urban and adopting a culture of pet care and companionship” (Humane Society International, 2016, July 1).

    While the abolition of the Chinese dog meat trade is sure to be a victory for animal advocates worldwide and is imperative to obtaining justice for dogs, the success confers serious implications. On its most fundamental level, the concept of animal rights implies equality in the consideration of all animals. In light of the predominating pet culture in the Western world, renouncing the inhumane treatment of dogs while perpetuating that of animals deemed “fit for consumption” invariably widens the gap within speciesism, an obvious contradiction to the goal of advancing animal rights.

References:

Denyer, S., & Ginglu, J. (2016, June 10). Activists gather 11 million signatures against China’s infamous dog-meat festival. The Washington Post. Retrieved August 3, 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/06/10/china-stop-eating-dogs-animal-rights-activists-campaign-against-annual-festival-of-slaughter/#comments

Humane Society International. (2016, June 20). 20 dogs rescued from slaughter just one day ahead of China's Yulin dog meat festival, photos [Press release]. Hsi.org. Retrieved August 3, 2016, from http://www.hsi.org/news/press_releases/2016/06/yulin-rescue-20-dogs-062016.html

Humane Society International. (2016, July 1). Chinese Activists Rescue 400 Dogs Bound for Meat Trade Slaughter in 50-Hour Standoff [Press release]. hsi.org. Retrieved August 1, 2016, from http://www.hsi.org/news/press_releases/2015/06/kunming-dog-meat-truck-rescue-070115.html

Lu, J., Bayne, K., & Wang, J. (2013). Current status of animal welfare and animal rights in China. ATLA, 41, 351-357.

Pacelle, W. (2016, May 25). Dog butchering raising howls in Congress and throughout the world [Web log post]. Retrieved August 3, 2016, from http://blog.humanesociety.org/wayne/2016/05/congressional-resolution-condemns-yulin-dog-meat-festival.html