I have read several postings online by some people who believe that if Michael Vick continues to play football in the NFL then football fans should boycott the NFL. Although Vick's brand of animal abuse is more unvarnished and seems more malignant than other types that exist under our noses every day, attempting to punish the league alone would be wrong.
Abuse of animals in our daily lives is ubiquitous. Whether it is in meat production, animal testing in any number of industries (pharmaceuticals, household products, medical research); in canned hunts or at some zoos, circuses and rodeos; whether it is in the fur industry or the way animal hides and fur are processed for use in numerous toys and clothing brands, animals are suffering and dying under horrific conditions around the clock and in every corner of the developed and developing world.
Are Vick's critics eager to rush to the PETA website to learn more about those issues and to launch boycotts against other perpetrators of unnecessary torture of innocent animals? What Vick has done is despicable. He will carry the shame of these events with him for some time to come. But society's outrage would be misplaced if its cyclical indignation about how we treat animals in America rested solely on Vick's shoulders.
Vick is a big man in the public eye. But he is a small fish compared to some others you can read about who are torturing and killing millions of animals a year in order to make a profit. Please visit the PETA website.
we must remember that the horrific conditions in which the dogs were kept, used, and ultimately killed, represents the daily reality for *billions* (not millions) of animals every year who have the misfortune to be caught in the factory farming abomination. Farm animals are raised in horrifyingly cruel concrete concentration camp conditions and killed in the most barbaric ways for our carnivorous gluttony. Meat is an addiction, not a necessity for human survival. As per a 400-page UN report entitled "Livestock's Long Shadow," a whopping 18% (more than cars, trucks, buses, planes, and all forms of transportation combined) of greenhouse gas emissions are caused by animal agriculture. If we are to survive, as a species, we need to wake up and realize that a plant-based diet is better for human health, the environment, and, of course, the animals.
By the way, compassion is compassion. It's not a choice between people and animals. I became a registered nurse 27 years ago because I could not stand to watch someone suffer without doing something to alleviate it. I became a vegetarian 23 years ago (after seeing the Animals Film and reading Peter Singer's Animal Liberation) for the same reason.
Rina Deych, RN
Thanks for using this issue to point to the big picture of animal abuse. Society is so removed from the plight of animal suffering, that millions can claim themselves to be animal lovers and still eat meat. Anyone who has a real heart and views documentaries on animals being subjected to horrors of the meat factories would want to look into the vegetarian alternative. People who think they need to have meat in their diet to be healthy and strong should consider what a veg diet has done for people like Martina Navratilova, who has become stronger, faster and healthier by making the switch.
we must remember that the horrific conditions in which the dogs were kept, used, and ultimately killed, represents the daily reality for *billions* (not millions) of animals every year who have the misfortune to be caught in the factory farming abomination. Farm animals are raised in horrifyingly cruel concrete concentration camp conditions and killed in the most barbaric ways for our carnivorous gluttony. Meat is an addiction, not a necessity for human survival. As per a 400-page UN report entitled "Livestock's Long Shadow," ( http://www.wellfedworld.org/globalwarming.htm ) a whopping 18% (more than cars, trucks, buses, planes, and all forms of transportation combined) of greenhouse gas emissions are caused by animal agriculture. If we are to survive, as a species, we need to wake up and realize that a plant-based diet is better for human health, the environment, and, of course, the animals.
By the way, compassion is compassion. It's not a choice between people and animals. I became a registered nurse 27 years ago because I could not stand to watch someone suffer without doing something to alleviate it. I became a vegetarian 23 years ago (after seeing the Animals Film and reading Peter Singer's Animal Liberation) for the same reason.
Thank you for writing on the humane view of the big picture here. Your second paragraph outlying the abuse of animal cruelty sums up the situation perfectly.
I became a vegetarian at age 12 after seeing a film on slaughter houses and have had no desire to eat meat for the last thirty years. The assertion that meat is necessary for a healthy diet is a lie.
We are culturely conditioned to accept the cruel teatment of animals as normal. I sincerely believe as long as we are desensitised to the horrors that these poor animals go through, we will block a big part of our compassionate nature.
While fighting dogs in a supposedly civilized society is wrong the most repugnant part to me is drowning and strangling these dogs. When it becomes necessary to do so animals can and should be put down in as humane a way as possible. While I don't think dog fighting is necessary, if Vick was going to do it, I am sure he could have gotten a hold of what the vets use to put dogs down. Heavan knows NFLers have access to drugs they shouldn't (steroids).
animals who have feelings and who do suffer on a daily basis all their short lives until their eventual slaughter. Can we be a Great Country when we still allow such primitive torturing to take place routinely as though it did not concern us???
I commend Alec Baldwin for bringing up this subject, and maybe Vick's bad behaviour can lead to more awareness on this subject until something will be done to change those medieval and nasty conditions. Sorry, I am brazilian and my english is not too good , but i wanted to respond on this subject that I very much care about! Thanks for reading.
PETA is a hypocritical organization and they are using this incident to raise their own bank accounts. Don't give to PETA.
I then watched a clip on dairy production in New Zealand and was impressed with how well treated the animals are; even the male calves which go to slaughter soon after birth, aren't treated the way calves are in this country.
Do countries in the E.U. have different standards for the raising and slaughter of livestock that is less cruel?
I watched those tapes and I know animals are raised to be consumed by us, but it seems there could be a better way.
In this day and age aren't there painless and sureproof ways to kill them before they are butchered?
Those videos look like something out of The Jungle. T.R. must be rolling in his grave, probably the last great Republican progressive.