Christian Vegetarian Association Blog - Monday, January 8, 2007


	CVA BLOG

CVA Blog
Monday, January 8, 2007

Are We Showing Compassion toward God’s Animals?

Welcome to the weekly CVA blog! In it you will find famous quotes, news and commentaries.

1. Zombie chickens
2. Famous quote – Isaac Bashevis Singer, writer, Nobel laureate (1904-1991)
3. Ohio Hog Farm in the news
4. Bible verse – Matthew 11:28
5. Lawsuit against farm animal cruelty
6. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal debut

1. Zombie chickens: When we thought we’ve heard all there is about the cruelty of the poultry industry, one more shocking aspect comes to light. In the state of California ranchers have been turning chickens too old to lay eggs into compost at a rate of a half-million hens a year; since according to Reibli, an egg farmer, slaughtering the chickens, even to transport them unprocessed and frozen whole, would likely cost more than composting them. Farmers suffocate the old chickens in sealed boxes filled with carbon dioxide and then layer the hens in mounds of sawdust. However, some chickens not properly euthanized have been seen crawling out of the compost piles, earning them the name 'zombie chickens.'

To read the full article please visit http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/
mercurynews/16156469.htm

The way humans treat animals is sometimes appalling and shameful. In this case, hens are exploited all their lives without any consideration to their God-given rights, and at the end they are not even granted a painless and peaceful death. Unless people realize that God’s animals are not commodities, we will continue to disrespect God and His/Her Creation.

2. “Even in the worm that crawls in the earth there glows a divine spark. When you slaughter a creature, you slaughter God.”
~ Isaac Bashevis Singer, writer, Nobel laureate (1904-1991)

3. Ohio Hog Farm in the news: The non-profit group, Humane Farming Association, released an undercover video that shocked TV viewers in Ohio by showing the “standard practices” in an Ohio hog farm.

According to a former employee who witnessed these atrocities, pigs at Wiles Farm are ineffectively shot and left alive, beaten to death with hammers, have their heads slammed into walls and floors multiple times, and sows are strung up by their neck and slowly suffocated.

Steve Kaufman, President of Vegetarian Advocates and CVA chair said, "I think what's shocking is the callousness and disregard for the animals, throwing the animals and strangling the animals by the rope for example."

Congressman Dennis Kucinich is asking those who want to help to contact him and plans to include their names on a list of Americans calling for tougher legislation that regulates that treatment of farm animals. As of today, there are no Federal laws regarding the treatment of animals on farms.

To read the full articles please visit http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=59955
and http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=59982

4. (RSV) Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Jesus words remind us that at the end of the day, when we feel discouraged and tired, we should focus on Him and His teachings. Jesus offers hope and encouragement, especially when suffering and cruelty abound around us.

5. Lawsuit against farm animal cruelty: Last week animal advocate groups including the Humane Society of the United States and Farm Sanctuary told a panel in the appellate division of the New Jersey Superior Court that the state had bowed to the farm industry by allowing inhumane methods to persist on the grounds they are common practice for farmers and agricultural colleges, such as the starvation of chickens in order to boost egg production, the permanent confinement of pigs in cages so small they cannot turn around, de-beaking of fowl, castration without anesthesia, and tail-docking in which most of a cow's tail is amputated to make milking easier.

New Jersey is the only state requiring officials to set humane standards for the treatment of farm animals and therefore, enforcing stricter animal welfare laws could potentially end up in better treatment of farm animals in the US. Nancy Costello Miller, an attorney for the state said, "We have to accept that these animals are being raised for human purposes," and referring to the practice of castration without anesthesia, she replied that the pain suffered by the animal is only brief and that “sometimes distraction is enough to take attention from the pain.”

To read the full article please visit http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-12-13T212418Z_01_N13488270_RTRUKOC_0_US-ANIMAL-RIGHTS.xml

The justification of inflicting pain and suffering to God’s animals on the basis that they are raised for human purposes is a mockery to God’s love for them. Christ teachings reflect God’s love and compassion to all Creation, and we are called to follow those teachings. A plant-based diet shows love and compassion for God’s animals.

6. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal debut: On November 17th of 2006, the movie Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal made its debut in US theaters. The movie revolves around a fictional chain called Mickey's and describes the way farm animals are raised in today’s modern factory plants.

It includes scenes filmed in a Mexican slaughterplant showing with graphic detail every step from the stunning of the animal until its flesh is processed for food.

Rebecca Weiss, writer for The Cornell Daily Sun says, “There are a few scenes of unrelenting carnage, more mercilessly graphic than anything you’ll have ever seen in the theatres. Worse, there’s no way to console yourself afterwards — everything you’ve seen is 100% real and all true to life” … ““The amount of times that innards and giblet are depicted onscreen may convert the most staunch carnivore into a cow-hugging tofu-championing vegetarian, nay, vegan.”

To read the full article please visit http://www.cornellsun.com/node/20056

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