Okay...this is usualy way,way,way outside my usual posts.In point of fact I am not even sure if I

should post it...but then again...This video is about how animals that end up on our tables for consumption are

treated befor they reach the supermarket.Im sure we have all heard the stories,but seeing it was...well...an eye

opener.

I will sum up this video for those who would prefer to not watch it but may have stomach enough to hear

my pathetic attempt to describe what has to be seen to be believed.Stop reading now if you would rather just not

know.

This is a link to a video narated by one of the Bladwins,Im not sure which one,that was produced by PETA

in a campaign to stop the commercial sale of meat.Meat animals,as Im sure we have all heard,live in the most

deplorable conditions imaginable.

In the case of chickens,many production meat birds starve to death in thier

pens as a result of injuries that prevent them from reaching food.Others die from stress related ailments while kept

in extremely over crowded pens and coops while awaiting transport to slaughter.They are kept in pens far too

small,made to live in thier own excrement,brutaly beaten to death if they are found to be sick or injured.In the

video,five gallon buckets stuffed full of dead chickens can be seen in the pens.

When they are slaughtered,they

are first brutaly hung up by thier feet and sent through a machine that cuts thier throats,but often

inadaquately...so as a result,they are sent down the line to the hot water tank for feather removal.When chickens

are plucked(I have done this myself) they are first dipped in scalding hot water to loosen the feathers.In the case

of comercial production,many are still alive when they get dipped.

Cattle in this video are particularly

pathetic.Meat cattle are first castrated with a knife,have thier horns removed with bolt cutters and are

branded...all without bennefit of anesthiesia.they are penned in a feed lot,where conditions are so cramped,they

cant even move or lay down.By the time they go to slaughter,thier muscles have atrophied,they have developed

infected wounds or cancerous lesions,despite which they still pass USDA certification.Many are so weak and

debilitated,that they have to be dragged off the trucks with a winch when they reach the slaughter house,unable to

move or stand on thier own.

Dairy cows are much the same.They are kept in tightly regulated pens and milked

several times a day.They are niether able to move or lay down and in many cases suffer injuries from being milked

that result in them being culled from the heard and sent to slaughter.According to the video,most of the hamburger

in the US is gained from dairy cows.

Cows give milk for the same reason women do...to feed thier offspring.So as

a result,the dairy cows are impregnated and when they give birth,thier young are taken to simmilar,smaller pens to

be raised for veal.Unable to lay down or walk,by the time they go to auction many of these veal animals cant even

stand on thier own because thier muscles have atrophied.

Once again,these animals are hung up at the slaughter

house,have thier throats cut and are blead out befor being skinned and gutted.Unfortunatly,many are still alive and

awake by the time they reach the skinning room.This is true of both beef cows and veal.

The part of the video

about pigs was the toughest part for me.My brother and sister-in-law raised pigs,and I got to help hand raise some

of them after thier breeding sow died giving birth.Pigs are an amazingly inteligent creature and have been said to

be more inteligent than dogs.Having seen it,I believe it.They are also alot of fun.

The pigs are kept in pens in

which they cant turn around.They are fed and watered,and when the time comes,they give birth and are given just

enough extra space to nurse thier young.The piglets are prematurely weaned and sent to mass pens in which they are

so packed together that they are unable to move.Sick or wounded animals are...this turned my stomach...picked up by

thier hind legs and slammed head first onto the concrete floor to kill them.Many of the animals

above,chickens,turkeys,cows,pigs are driven to insanity from thier conditions.Haveing spent alot of time around farm

animals I can believe that because for as dumb as we think they are,they realy arent.They just cant share thier

thoughts on quantum mechanics with us.And the mamals especialy have very distinct personalities.I have seen these

animals show effection in the same way your dog or cat would show effection.They just smell alittle stronger.



Thats about where I had to stop watching.In the greatest effort I can muster to not pay anyone any disrespect,it

is very clear to me that meat farming in the United States has taken more than a few pointers on "how to" from the

Nazi concentration camps and then improved on the methods to make them even worse.If you have a stomach to watch

it...here is the link.

http://www.meat.org/?c=v0106

Bear in

mind,I am not a big fan of PETA...but once in a while I can find something to agree with even with someone I usualy

disagree with.