It’s a myth that we’re a nation of animal lovers
IT is often claimed that we live in a nation of animal lovers.
That is far from the case when it comes to farm animals. Not only are they reared to be killed and eaten, but a very large proportion are incarcerated in tiny cages barely able to move and so cramped they cannot even lie down.
They are kept in darkness indoors, in considerable pain.
Pigs are frequently kept in those barbaric conditions, barely able to breathe as they are fattened for our consumption.
Their “cell” is generally the exact dimension of their body, so clearly a form of assembly line of forced weight gain and slaughter, yet have committed no crime.
Pheasants and partridges are treated with equal contempt, kept in raised laying cages.
Their imprisonment is patently extremely painful and they appear to suffer from virtual insanity as they fly around trying to escape, often seriously injuring themselves on the metal bars in the process.
The heat is often unbearable. Online video of this is truly shocking. Their misery is something which must at all costs be addressed if we expect to defeat Covid-19 and future pandemics.
This distinction between a more caring farm and factory farming is an important consideration however. Surely vegans, vegetarians and meat-eaters agree that the living conditions of these beasts should be as kind as possible. Presumably we are united in needing an end to the “cage age” itself.
This is something which Animal Aid, among other organisations, is trying to promote, and it has been lobbying the relevant government minister to achieve this aim, although with no success so far. It is leading the charge against the cage age and has an online petition at: animalaid.org.uk/cage petition
We also need transparency in trade so we can avoid meat produced on these factory farms; presumably more rational farms and intelligent food retailers would be very willing to cooperate, and accurate packaging could enforce this reform.
Mr J Bucke
Bridgend
Taxpayers have aided C-19 research
“CAPITALISM and big pharma saves us” explains Mr T Finch (Echo letters, November 14), referring to “our knight in shining armour, American drug giant Pfizer with its privately developed Covid-19 vaccine”.
Very generously, the taxpayers of 30 countries, through their governments, have donated £6.5bn towards the development of a Covid vaccine, producing something of a gold rush among prospective manufacturers, Pfizer included.
It is assumed that all profits will go to corporate shareholders.
Bearing in mind that the makers of Covid vaccines will enjoy freedom from all compensation liability, these corporate blessings may keep you warm while waiting in a queue for the jab.
Noel Thomas, Maesteg
With rights must come responsibility
WITH freedom to breed comes responsibility, something that seems
Pigs are frequently kept in those barbaric conditions, barely able to breathe...
Mr J Bucke Bridgend
to escape the human race.
We hear a great deal about human rights but little about human responsibility.
Hunger was not invented in
2020.
With more land taken out for housing how can we feed the nation? Hunger
is a worldwide problem. Lack of care of land and soil is causing problems worldwide.
But we humans fail to see that climate change is down to us.
Who was the idiot that decided the lifeskills cookery and grow-your-own gardening rural science should not be taught in schools and evening classes and weekend schools?
You invest little, you get little return. You sow sparingly, you reap sparingly.
PC Williams
Abercarn, Newport