A vegan perspective

As many at VCU know, there was a display on campus recently that compared human suffering throughout history to that of animals today.

I was reading over some of the media coverage of the Animal Liberation exhibit and was surprised (although maybe I shouldn’t be) at just how angry and upset some people were by the exhibit. In an attempt to draw a comparison between the fight for human civil rights and for animal welfare, pictures of men being lynched, branded in the face, hung and shacked in chains were accompanied by images of animals going through similar ordeals.

An article by Dionne Walker of Newsday caught my attention the most with a closing quote from VCU senior Kariss Rogers: “Chicken is food!” she said. “This organization is wrong for even trying to make the comparison.”

Reading this, it occurs to me that the majority of angry students have missed the message entirely. Or maybe People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) just isn’t communicating it well. They’ve established such a name for themselves as being controversial, shocking – and to some, ridiculous – that many turn a blind eye and a deaf ear the moment they know PETA is involved.

And who could blame them? It’s only a natural reaction to become defensive if you feel that someone is accusing you of doing something unethical – it’s very dangerous territory, and it seems many people have completely closed themselves off to even considering what others have to say on the subject.

I am a vegan, but I am not here to tell you that I think it’s wrong to eat meat. Ms. Rogers may very well be correct: maybe chicken is food. But I wonder: how can students look at images of animals being burned alive and not care? Some would say that animals are commodities, and therefore we should not concern ourselves with such matters. But what if it was a dog, or a cat?

Many states have laws against animal cruelty toward domestic animals – some even resulting in felony charges. So why do we draw a distinction between traditional livestock and domestic animals?

It’s a fairly well-known fact that animals on factory farms suffer abuses that are beyond what many of us can begin to comprehend – beatings, cramped quarters, rampant disease, castration, electric prods and slow deaths, all without the use of painkillers. Are all of these things necessary for meat production? In most cases, no – but they persist because there is no legislation for non-domestic animals, despite the fact that they are sentient creatures which feel just as much pain as fear as the animals we typically love and cherish, many of them intelligent and highly social creatures.

I said earlier that people were missing the message, and maybe they still are. The message was never about going vegetarian; it’s about taking a stand against cruelty. Honestly, I could care less if you decide to go vegetarian or not. At the very least, though, it’s important to understand where your money is going and to at least attempt to make ethical purchases.

Even as a meat-eater, there are a ton of things you can do in regards to animal welfare, because the concern doesn’t stop at food. Tons of household items, including shampoo, detergents,and deodorants, are needlessly and endlessly tested on animals. Doing a little research and purchasing meat from producers you know take the animals’ welfare into consideration can go a long way. The more of a demand there is for it, the more likely producers – and lawmakers – will start listening.

– Matt Wetsel

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