sent to elizabetha@peta.org

Liz,

A friend just shared a letter you wrote to her. Here
is an extract:


“In contrast to God’s message of love and compassion
for all His creation, factory farms and
slaughterhouses are “hell on Earth” for animals. Cows
are branded and have their horns amputated and bulls
suffer castration in addition to these ordeals all
without painkillers. Chickens are crammed into filthy
sheds by the tens of thousands and forced to live
among the corpses of birds who have died of heart
attacks or stress. Some even starve to death because
their legs can’t support the weight of their
bodies genetically engineered to grow abnormally fast
and large which prevents the birds from reaching food.
Baby pigs have their ears mutilated, the ends of their
teeth broken off, and their tails amputated males
suffering the additional abuse of castration-all
without anesthetics.”

These are interesting points. I read your next
sentence:

“What may have been a way of survival hundreds or
thousands of years ago - herding, hunting… is no longer how we live.”

Liz, it seems to me that you need to pick a side.
First you complain that animals are being treated
inhumanely (which leaves the possibility of still
eating meat, as long as animals are treated humanely),
and then you say that in no cases ever is it ok to eat
meat (that, in a sense, we’ve progressed past that.)

So, which is it? Can we eat meat if animals are
treated ok? (and if not, why don’t you just say that
instead of focusing on the alleged mistreatment of
animals?)

In any case, what makes it ok to eat plants and not
animals? Because animals are more like people? Because
they have a complex nervous system? Seriously now,
where do you draw the line? What about animals that
don’t have a complex nervous system? What about those
creatures that seem to exhibit properties of both
plants and animals? Is coral ok? What about Venus
fly-traps or pitcher plants (they eat meat)? Would you
eat a freshwater diatom?

[signed]