Since the badger cull is in the news a lot lately, but many people either don't know about it or are confused, I thought I would provide a summary of the issue and my own comments on it. A lot of the press has been misleading or utterly false. Here I speak up for the badgers!
Basically the Conservatives/"Coalition" want to slaughter thousands of badgers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland over the next decade under the guise of "Bovine TB Control"-The previous government and multiple scientific bodies (who have been studying the connection between badgers and the spread of TB for decades), found badgers were NOT the main problem and a cull would not help and is indeed not justifiable-In fact it could actually make the problem worse. I have done the research myself, when I applied for a job with the League Against Cruel Sports I had to write a press release on the issue and spent a couple of weeks looking into it. There are cheaper, cruelty-free alternatives that involve no killing at all and would actually be more effective-Other countries have tried such alternatives and have had great success. The major problem in the spread of this disease is poor animal husbandry, movement of the animals and the sheer numbers animals are crammed into together. Mass production (aka Factory Farming) will always result in outbreak and fast spread of disease-as well as of course, extreme stress and cruelty upon the animals involved. In this instance it would appear that badgers are being used as a scape-goat for bad farming practices. Who better to blame than someone who cannot speak back? Why pay big to reform the way things are done when you can just shift the blame?
Farmers have another motivation for wanting an excuse to get badgers off their land. Badgers are a protected species in Europe. A loop hole in their protection allows them to be legally killed in order to control disease. Eradicating such a protected species means a farmer can sell the former badger habitat for development. An additional reason to assign blame to badgers for financial gain.
It seems the victims of the meat/dairy industry are more than just the poor souls lying on your plates-The circle of killing radiates outwards to include wildlife. Animals in our society are treated like property and commodities from which to make money. As long as animals have this status, they will never receive proper protection as their lives are seen as disposable. The life of an animal only has value to the farmer (or whoever is making money) for as long as that animal brings in profit. When that changes the individual is killed. Dairy cows, who should live to 20, are killed at 3 years old as their milk production slightly wanes and their male calves are taken away and chained in a dark room (-to keep them from moving around and building muscle so as to produce "tender" meat aka Veal)- and fed a mixture which includes slaughterhouse blood (they can't have their mother's milk as that is taken for human consumption). The story is the same for egg laying hens. Although they should live years and years, an egg laying hen, after being crammed into a cage or shed (yes this includes "free-range"), never seeing the light of day and having to live in their own faeces, is slaughtered at just 18 months old when they start producing fewer eggs-Their male chicks either gassed or put in a grinder alive-as they are regarded as a "useless by-product"-When I told an omnivorous friend about all this the other day, she was shocked as said "isn't that illegal?!"-No. It is not. Its the industry standard. Animals are regarded as property and therefore have no rights. They can be treated in any way the owner sees fit. The meat/dairy industry certainly doesn't want you to know about it. It would be terrible PR. Like all companies with something to sell, there's advertising spin to encourage you to give them your money, and they will avoid at all costs admitting to anything that would potentially damage their profits.
Now badgers are being blamed for the spread of bovine TB-which has occurred due to the dreadful conditions we keep animals in (just like Foot In Mouth and Mad Cow Disease). Farmers and the other organisations involved (and clearly the Conservatives-generally speaking-we've always known they have no respect for animals considering they charge about the countryside killing them for fun), do not consider the life of an animal to have value or moral significance beyond how much money can be made from exploiting that individual. So, when wildlife-including "protected" species-such as Badgers threaten the profit (even when scientifically proven otherwise), it stands to reason they would take no issue in mass murdering these innocent creatures. (Which is why, despite being previously thrown out as a "solution", badger culling is repeatedly pushed through). Or by simply using them as a scape-goat to avoid taking responsibility for the consequences of their actions. They kill millions of other animals for profit(farmers)/fun(Conservatives/Countryside Alliance) everyday, so why would the badger be any different? -And this is all happening so you can have pepperoni on your pizza and milk on your cornflakes-sad but true. They do it because you pay them (farmers) to do so. Effectively, by buying meat/dairy, as well as the deaths of the farm animals, you are also paying for the badgers to be killed (and if you want to look into it further-the destruction of the rainforest which is being cleared to grow feed for farm animals-which of course leads to the death of even more animals losing their natural habitat and this in turn increases the damage of climate change-The meat/dairy industry being the biggest cause of greenhouse gas is a whole other subject!).
Many thousands have spoken out against the badger cull, wanting to protect the lives of the badgers. Sadly most of these people probably consume animal products. Why have they given the badger's life value, but routinely participate in an industry that exploits, tortures and kills hundreds of millions of other animals (in the UK alone)? It is morally schizophrenic and hypocritical. Love/protect one, but eat another? Sadly this moral inconsistency does not make a strong case for the badgers. The Conservatives/Farmers simply do not understand why you would give a badger's life value but then pay them (farmers) to kill cows/pigs/chickens. Killing animals is all the same to them. Which is true. Either you regard animals as having moral significance or you don't. If you don't care about mass producing, exploiting and needlessly killing farm animals, then why would you care about dogs/cats/horses/dolphins/tigers/polar bears/baby seals/foxes etc being killed for human use? Its all the same thing. If you are against fox hunting/badgers being killed/dogs and cats being skinned alive for fur in Asia/dolphins being speared to death in Japan, then perhaps you should consider why it is you are ok about paying someone to do it to cows/pigs/chickens?-Who feel emotion, pain and suffer just the same as the aforementioned animals do-just the same as the cat curled up on your lap, or the dog that euphorically greets you upon coming home. If you wouldn't do it to your dog, why do it to a cow? If you wouldn't do it to a child, why do it to any animal? You certainly don't need meat and milk-in fact you will be healthier and live longer without it. Is all this suffering and death really justified for the sake of "tasty"? Most people don't think about it because we are taught not to. We are brought into a society where exploitation and murder is the norm and everyone else seems to be going along with it. You don't have to! Worse still the severity and sheer scale of suffering is covered up-perhaps not hidden, but certainly not openly exclaimed! The fact that badgers are now being targeted just goes to show how ridiculously out of control the industry is and how screwed up our attitudes towards animals have become.
You, like myself, were probably raised consuming meat/milk/leather etc just like everyone else. To you, it is the norm and something you enjoy. As you will most likely consider yourself a "good person", the fact that someone like myself comes along and seems to point out how awful and morally wrong the industry you are participating in is-you may feel threatened, uncomfortable or even defensive. Don't. This is not personal or in any way an attack. This is me (and many millions like me), crying out about the fact that we have learned about something truly terrible that is happening-a massive violence upon tens of billions of innocent, sentient, conscious beings for frivolous reasons-And it IS frivolous. If fox hunting offends you because it is murder for the sake of fun-isn't the only reason you eat meat/milk because it is tasty? (It certainly isn't healthy!). This too is murder for the sake of pleasure-it has no other purpose than that. It is the greatest injustice and mass genocide of our time. At least 54 billion animals are slaughtered for meat and dairy worldwide per year-this does not include fish and other aquatic animals and does not include the lives of wild animals who are either killed to protect "farming interests" or who lose their habitat which is used to grow feed for farm animals. This number is set to double by 2050 as the human population (and therefore demand) doubles. Like black slavery and the Jewish Holocaust we have to stand up and do something about it. Most people really don't know just how bad the situation is and they don't realise that it is happening because of them. As an introduction and summary, I suggest you start by watching Earthlings (www.earthlings.com or www.truththeory.org/earthlings). It is free to view online.
By speaking out, I hope to educate people about the reality and offer you the choice not to participate in it-I never knew and grew up blissfully ignorant, only to be devastated on the day I learned the truth that I had been helping this happen for so long. Now I hope to help others like myself, who would want to stand up and change things if only they KNEW. Many are comfortable in going along with what everyone else is doing and tend to ignore little niggling thoughts at the back of their mind that question whether what is happening is actually right. What is needed is a wake up call-a reality check. A confrontation of the truth that cannot be ignored. For me, documentaries like Earthlings certainly shook me out of "blissful ignorance"-no more pretending or ignoring what is happening every single day. I hope that by posting links and videos I get your attention and act as a daily reminder of what is really going on-It should not be ignored or forgotten about. I hope too that I don't offend or irritate-this is not the intention. Sometimes there are things that are just SO important that taking the risk of getting blocked or deleted is justified. I hope I also serve as an example of someone willing to stand up for what is right-even if it means going against the herd or questioning authority.
In reality the solution to this is actually incredibly simple. Going vegan means you boycott industries of animal exploitation-you do not give them money so they can continue doing what they do. You are standing up and saying it is wrong. By reducing demand their profit falls. The numbers of animals involved would be reduced. Society would take notice. Through education attitudes and cultural habits can be changed. Black slavery (or any slavery) is unacceptable, oppression of women (or any group) is unacceptable, child abuse is unacceptable. All forms of discrimination are wrong, whether that be against race, gender, age or species. All forms of torture are wrong. Killing for fun is wrong. Why? Because it is not right to inflict suffering (psychological or physical) on sentient, conscious beings. All life has value. Animals, who are conscious and sentient just like us, deserve the right not to be kept as slaves, not to be tortured and not to be discriminated against. They are non-human persons who deserve to be members of our moral community.
"With great power comes great responsibility". As humans, we have to realise the power we each have and our moral responsibilities that come with this. Our actions have consequences and since we have awareness of this, we cannot afford to be lazy or ignorant (in regards to all issues across the board). It is amazing that something SO simple as the food we have in our cupboard CAN change the world and can affect the lives of tens of billions! :D Believe me, begin vegan is incredibly easy-anyone and everyone can do it. It’s delicious, you will be healthier, you will be reducing your carbon foot print (which ultimately helps YOU!) and you will be doing the best thing you can do for all animals-beyond the ones formerly bleeding on your plate. At the end of the day, why kill someone when you don't have to? Its a simple choice. It is not mandatory to eat meat/dairy, wear fur/leather/wool or give money to companies and charities who test on animals. When it is SO easy to stop the suffering of billions with a simple action you can do right now then why not do it? The world is vegan if you want it!
But what about Animal Welfare? Isn't it ok to eat animals if they have a nice life first?-This is a fairytale. It will never happen. The costs of truly suitable welfare standards would be astronomical. Nobody would be able to afford the price of meat/dairy-Raising the bar that much in itself would require the acknowledgement that animals need such standards, as they have needs like our own, BECAUSE they are sentient, conscious, have emotions and are capable of stress and suffering-And once you get to that point, then surely you need to acknowledge too that exploiting such a being-bringing him/her into existence only for servitude and death-is wrong.
In brief: Animal welfare does not work to alleviate the suffering of animals or reduce the number of animals being killed. We need to abolish exploitation not just regulate it. Welfare reform serves the interests of the institutional users (the farmers/slaughter houses/fast food restaurants and everyone else profiting from animal products) as it increases production efficiency. Cramming animals into tight, filthy spaces causes disease and behavioural problems resulting in huge veterinary bills. A slightly bigger cage (i.e "free-range") reduces their costs a bit. Not only that, but it makes the public feel better about buying the product, increasing sales and therefore the demand. Increase in demand means more animals being bred into a life of misery and servitude with a brutal end. Welfare acts under the pre-tense that owning and using animals for our purposes is ok, so will never offer animals any significant protection from harm. And if one animal is treated like this (e.g a cow), then we will see this attitude extend to all other animals (i.e badgers and foxes). Rape is wrong, regulating rape making it more "humane" does NOT make it ok. Similarly there is no nice way to kill someone and there is no nice way to enslave someone. Don't be fooled by "Free-range" or "Freedom-food" labels. Welfare organisations like the RSPCA are PAID by the institutional users (i.e farmers etc) for the use of their "freedom food" labels. They are hugely misleading PR campaigns giving you a false impression of happy animals living out their lives to old age. The reality is far from it. You are buying into suffering and giving them money to ensure that that suffering continues. Always remember that the flesh on your plate came from someone, not "something".
Veganism is a rejection of violence, exploitation, cruelty, oppression, slavery and inflicting suffering upon any being with the capacity to experience it. This applies to humans and non-human animals alike. In our sentience and our suffering we are all equals.
Thanks for reading.
P.S There is a peaceful march for farmed animals (to abolish their use as food) in London on October the 2nd 2010. More information is available at www.farmedanimals.org.uk -A movement for change is emerging. You can be part of it.
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