When the nonvegans say, “You care more about animals than you care about people,” you have a number of ways to respond. If you choose, you can explain how animal rights are linked to human rights.

Here are some resources for discussing animal agricultural workers and human rights violations in slaughterhouses and farms:

• Poultry workers article and video series:
  http://www.charlotteobserver.com/poultry/

• “meatpacking and poultry workers face more than hard work in tough settings. They perform the most dangerous factory jobs in the country.”
  source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/02/AR2005080201936.html

• “one of the most serious unintended consequences of industrial food animal production ( ifap) is the growing public health threat of these types of facilities. In addition to the contribution of ifap to the major threat of antimicrobial resistance, ifap facilities can be harmful to workers, neighbors, and even those living far from the facilities through air and water pollution, and via the spread of disease.”
  source: http://www.ncifap.org/_images/PCIFAPSmry.pdf

• “for men who have to crack the heads of animals all day seem to get into the habit, and to practice on their friends, and even on their families, ”
  source: http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/8/3/0/1/pages183018/p183018-1.php

• “Automated lines carrying dead animals and their parts for disassembly move too fast for worker safety. Repeating thousands of cutting motions during each work shift puts enormous traumatic stress on workers’ hands, wrists, arms, shoulders and backs. They often work in close quarters creating additional dangers for themselves and coworkers. They often receive little training and are not always given the safety equipment they need. They are often forced to work long overtime hours under pain of dismissal if they refuse.”
  source: http://www.hrw.org/en/node/11869/section/5

More links related to animal agriculture human exploitation:

• A Slaughterhouse Nightmare: Psychological Harm Suffered by Slaughterhouse Employees and the Possibility of Redress through Legal Reform:
  http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1016401
• State closes poultry workers’ bunkhouse for human rights violations:
  http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090208/NEWS/902080344
• 45% of pork workers have superbug MRSA:
  http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2009/1/27/63221/5325
• A Violent Vocation:
  http://diggingthroughthedirt.blogspot.com/2008/08/violent-vocation.html
• Killing for a Living: How the Meat Industry Exploits Workers:
  http://www.goveg.com/workerRights.asp
• Blood, Sweat, and Fear:
  http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2005/01/24/blood-sweat-and-fear
• Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in America:
  http://www.ncifap.org/_images/PCIFAPFin.pdf

Video links:

• Slaughterhouse workers: Dying for a job: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz4hdq_SxUQ
• Virgil Butler – Interview with former Tyson Employee: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huLivqGevP4

Books to read on this subject:

• Fast Food Nation
• Slaughterhouse
• The Jungle

Sections: Vegan Resources
Topics: animal rights, human rights, slaughterhouse, the jungle, veg, Vegan, workers