I recently read an article entitled If You're Not Vegan, You Don't Get To Talk About Animal Rights. I wanted to clear a few things up with the author Macey Hickman. While I understand your frustration, I cannot understand why, because I eat meat, I have no opinion about animal rights.
I enjoy eating my meat just like you probably enjoy eating foods that are typical of a vegan diet. What the problem here is not the people who eat meat but the industries who sell meat.
I buy my meat from a reputable source: Perdue farms. They do not put any chemicals into their chickens. I buy my milk and diary products from a store that does not put hormones or other horrible stuff into their cows. Not only are these chemicals bad, the Federal Law does not allow this stuff to happen. We have come a long way from Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle."
I looked at your video and understand that those animals are in pain. This farm, under the Federal Law standards, should no longer exist. I understand that there are some farms that still do this. In order to fix this problem, people need to stop buying meat from farms that do not support animal rights.
I wrote a paper in my ethics class last year and not only are animals treated unfairly for food, but they are treated unfairly for other reasons as well. Did you know that "“Over 100 million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned, and abused in US labs every year?” This problem does not only extend to food but medical products as well. So people who buy these products are contributing to this problem. They are contributing to the "animal cruelty on [their] dinner plate [and on their face and skin] every single day." I do not buy products that test on animals because this industry is not regulated, unlike the food industry. Also, I do not shop at places who use real animal fur. I ask you to come over to my house and look in my makeup bag and closet and you will see that I have nothing that contradicts animal rights. And before you ask, yes, I would buy products that were tested on animals if the industry was regulated.
The key word "regulated," I interpret to mean fair and just. There are tons and tons of unregulated farms that people probably (myself included) do not even know are are selling them meat. It is the industry's problem for selling us meat and other animal products. We buy them unknowingly therefore, it is not meat eaters' fault. It's the lies that such factories feed the people that is the true problem.
People who buy products from these farms and test facilities are to blame. Just because I eat meat does not mean I do not care about animal rights. I belong to the ASPCA, often make frequent trips to there to donate food, I got my cat there and could not be happier. I also sign petitions on change.org for the continued protection on animal rights.
I agree that it is sad that people only care about animal rights when a beloved animal is murdered and then continue on with their lives like nothing happened. People need to realize that animal cruelty happens behind the scenes as well.
People can support animal rights and eat meat. All they have to do is eat it from from farms that follow regulations regarding animal rights. They can go on the website and see if it comes from a referable farm. They can buy meat from actual farms, (I know people who slaughter their own beef in New Hampshire), places that have organic meat and so on.
Please don't say that all meat eaters are bad and cannot begin to understand animal rights because I am one. I think I know about animal rights because clearly I have an opinion on it and because I have research to back it up.
