If you're anything like most Americans, whether on the political right or left, you are strongly opposed to cruelty to animals. I mean, you're opposed to things like forcing dogs to spend their lives in crates, or slicing off parts of cats' bodies without painkillers. You probably agree that such abuse is as unjustifiable as it would be if the victims were human.
Why is it, then, that we allow millions of mother pigs, who are as intelligent as dogs and human infants, to spend almost their entire lives in crates so small that they cannot turn around, often causing them to develop neurotic behaviors like constantly chewing the cage bars in front of them? Why do we support keeping hundreds of millions of egg-laying hens in cages so small that their beaks must be sliced off with a hot blade to prevent them from pecking each other to death under the stress?
We are in the midst of an emergency, and we must drastically alter these practices. And, if we take our own values seriously, this situation ranks among the most important ethical issues of today. Although the abolishment of these practices is beginning, very slowly, state by state, each one of us can make better choices right now. For example, on GoVeg.com you can order a free vegetarian starter kit, with all of the reasons why, and how, we should move beyond thinking of animals as food. With that information, try being vegetarian for a month; you will never want to go back.
Last Monday, during their "Carnivore Initiative," the AU Republicans "celebrated meat" without mentioning any of the above information. They even went as far as to provide bogus information on "humane handling," deceiving students into thinking that everything is a-okay. I e-mailed Will Haun, the AU Republicans' president, to propose a debate with me. Not surprisingly, he turned it down while assuring me that the event is not out to make a political statement about animal rights.
What is the event out to do, then? And if the AU Republicans are so eager to promote meat, wouldn't a debate be a great way to show they're right? What are they afraid of?
Mark Devries Junior, College of Arts and Sciences
