This is a very hard subject to write about let alone think about. I will start off by saying that I don't have any issues with people eating meat...what I have issues with is how this meat gets to the consumer, and how we as consumers are so naïve to factory farming practices. This industry is not only EXTREMELY CRUEL, but it is also not sustainable!
A factor that makes this difficult to bring up is the economic driver behind farming in Canada. It is a huge industry that provides a lot of jobs...but that by no means excuses how this is done, and how money is a driver behind putting up big numbers instead of focusing on proper care and treatment of livestock. It is actually disgusting to me and many others.
While factory farming is not why I initially became vegan, it sure is a huge part of why I continue to be vegan. The treatment of animals in Canadian farms (and most other countries world wide) is absolutely gut wrenching. There are plenty of documentaries, random footage online and documentation of how cruel this really is, but I honestly believe most people choose to ignore it because they cannot stomach what they would see...yet they continue to buy the products which are a result of this cruelty. I myself was also guilty of this for 36.5 years. The image of animals freely running around in a field with endless space and food is sadly not what is actually happening with most livestock. In Alberta you routinely see beef cattle out roaming in fields, what you don't see is the horn removal, castration, calves being forcibly removed from their mothers and the list goes on.
Another thing that gets ignored is the level of intelligence and emotion in farm animals. A perfect example is a pig, the 4th smartest animal on the planet...ranking higher than dogs. Cows, goats and chickens are also extremely intelligent with incredibly complex social structures. As stated in one of my previous posts, visiting an animal sanctuary is a real eye opener to this. I could never have imagined a turkey, pig and goat all sitting beside me wanting attention and love at the same time just like my cats do at home.
This link is of what is going on after an undercover investigation at a pig farm in Ontario, there is definitely hard to watch content at this link but I feel anybody that regularly eats meat products needs to see. The tough part is that there are "minimal standards" in place, yet they are not followed or enforced. https://stopaggaglaws.ca/
The farm animal slaughtered numbers are so high I can't fully comprehend them, even just for Canada. These numbers are total slaughtered farm animals in Canada in 2018.
Cattle: 3,230,200
Calves: 234,300
Pigs: 21,561,500
Sheep, Lambs: 704,000
Chickens: 775,196,000
Turkeys: 20,243,000
These numbers don't account for other types of animals that are cruelly farmed or killed for fur products including mink, foxes and coyotes.
Trying to imagine that so many of these animals suffer immense pain by way of branding, castration, tail docking, teeth clipping, beak clipping, horn removal and so many without anesthetic practices in place and then have to suffer extremely horrid living conditions such as gestation crates, tight dark confined spaces such as warehouses with no access to outdoors and crowded transport is absolutely gut wrenching. Imagine what a cow or pig sees and hears going into a slaughter house after being transported in very stressful and tight quarters? How can we be so cruel, how can we ignore that this is happening and continue to enjoy the products they suffer to produce?
I could go on and on with links to more disturbing information but the fact remains, these animals all have a desire to live, no different than the pets we have and treat like royalty at home. Could you imagine your dog or cat being treated like this? What would you do if you caught someone treating your pet like this? EXACTLY. Yet we as humans relentlessly take that option away....77 billion times a year worldwide.
On a positive note I would like to say a huge thank you to places like the Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary in BC and The Alice Sanctuary here in Alberta for providing second chances at life to so many animals, and for taking the time to provide life changing education and awareness.
One of the lucky few, a 700lb pig that enjoys belly rubs and attention! Thanks to the Happy Herd Farm Sanctuary in BC for giving her the great life she deserves!