Billy wrote an excellent article about why he went vegan. Here’s a taste:

“We are destroying the environment, our health, and our humanity, not to mention the billions of innocent lives taken by our own hands.”

He continues with specific descriptions of farm animals’ lives:

“An average of six egg-laying hens are kept in battery cages so small that they peck at each other. In order to deal with this pecking problem, workers cut off up to two-thirds of each bird’s beak.” [...]

“Pigs are highly intelligent and friendly animals. The pig has one of the highest measured I.Q.’s of all animals, even greater than that of a dog.” [...] “Pigs used to be kept in pigpens, but today most are enslaved in extremely narrow steel stalls. These stalls force the pig to constantly face one direction, because he does not have enough room to even simply turn around.” [...]

“In a natural environment, a dairy cow would live between 20 and 25 years. In the dairy factories of today however, she is lucky to live five.” [...]

“Fish have complicated nervous systems and are capable of learning complicated tasks. [...] industrial fishing is very harmful. It damages ocean ecosystems by seriously depleting food webs. Dolphins and other marine animals are caught in the netting, most of which die. Many factory fisheries are being developed right now, breeding and raising fish in cages too small for them to enjoy their lives.”

Clearly, intensive animal agriculture, aka “factory farming,” is inherently cruel. Even meat-eaters can agree that this type of animal agriculture MUST STOP.

Next, he touches on human health:

“First, the average cholesterol level in the United States is 210. This number means nothing unless you compare it to that of vegetarians (those who abstain from meat only) and vegans living in the United States. The average cholesterol level of a vegetarian in the U.S. is 161. The average for a vegan is 133.”

I can attest to that. When my husband went vegetarian, his cholesterol level dropped about 30 points virtually overnight. I, having been vegetarian almost my entire life have never had high cholesterol. In fact, if anything, my cholesterol has been too low at times. But the remedy for that isn’t diet, it’s exercise. You simply HAVE to eat a healthy diet AND exercise regularly in order to be healthy.

Billy touches on environmental concerns of animal agriculture and then concludes:

“The next time you sit down to eat please remember this: eating animal products not only contributes to the amount of unnecessary suffering in the world, but also has drastic impacts on your health and the environment you live in. Please choose meals based on compassion for all living creatures.”

Take a look and read the rest >>

1,175 views
Sections: Vegan Theory
Topics: factory farming, intensive animal agriculture, veg, Vegan, why I went vegan, why vegan