After watching Earthlings last year I came across a documentary called Land of Hope and Glory, specifically about animal welfare on British farms. I wanted to give myself a little break before watching it as I still get images flashing through my head from Earthlings.
Land of Hope and Glory was put together by a guy called Earthling Ed in a response to British people's reaction to Earthlings - mainly that these practices don't happen here. It looks at land based farming and is broken down into pigs, cows, birds, eggs (a separate issue to chicken farming itself), and sheep. It looks at the appalling, cramped conditions a large number of these animals are kept in and the behaviours these stressful conditions cause. It also shows the effects of the induced sped up growth has on their bodies. It also brings up some disturbing facts like half the antibiotics sold in the UK are used on animals, with 60% of these specifically on pigs. This is especially bad when you look at the fact that we are having issues with super bugs and there have been links between this and farming practices throughout the world.
As with the other documentaries I've watched on animal welfare in farming, the treatment of the animals is really horrible and all in the name of cheap meat (something we can easily survive without). I think the worst bit for me was the treatment of them when they are being killed, especially the fact that it isn't done efficiently and that the stunning (as well as killing in some cases) is done infront of other individuals causing mass panic and stress. No animal deserves to be put through this treatment for any reason, especially if they are dying so you can eat.
Particularly bad was the behaviour of the humans supposed to be looking after their welfare. While I understand it might not be emotionally healthy to become attached to the animals and that they are working under financial constraints, the callousness and complete lack of empathy shown by these individuals is troubling to say the least. In fact some were literally just violent. These animals deserve far better treatment and some of those human individuals need some psychological help.
Going vegan is definitely the most effective way of ensuring this type of treatment is stopped (and no a life in those conditions is definitely not better than no life at all), but even just having meat as a luxurious, irregular treat to spend money on would ensure that these conditions were stopped. It is unbelievable that in a country that claims to be full of animal lovers we are happy for these conditions to carry on. And it's not that people just don't know, it's that we choice to be ignorant so that we don't have to face the consequences of knowing.
You can watch this documentary for free either on YouTube or on the Land of Hope and Glory website.
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