“They are not unfeeling objects. And what animals feel matters very much as they try to negotiate their lives in a human-dominated and often abusive world, in which they are mere pawns in our incessant and obsessive attempts to control their lives for our and not their benefit. I am incredulous that some sceptics actually question whether animals feel anything.” — Professor Marc Bekoff, of the University of Colorado
This disgusting and shameful video is difficult to watch, but it must be seen and shared so we can prevent such abuses from occurring again. Idaho legislators — and the owner of the farm, Luis Bettencourt, where the abuses occurred — want to cover up farm abuse by enacting an Ag-Gag bill, which would criminalize undercover investigations like the one seen in the video.
A youtube comment from a speciesist and sexual abuse apologist.
A YouTube user commented on the Mercy For Animals video, “ha. fuck those cows. they’ll end up on my plate sooner or later. i never heard of live stock suffering from sexual emotional abuse. they are not human people”
Dairy cow tethered (Photo credit: wattpublishing)
There’s a lot to be disturbed about from that one comment, but I’ll start with the argument of suffering. Contrary to what that commenter wrote, animals, and in particular, livestock – do indeed have the capacity to suffer from abuses. This is because animals have sentience, which is basically the capacity to feel. Proof of animals’ sentience is backed by science, and the science of sentience is an exciting area filled with new findings all the time. A little research into the matter goes a long way – here’s an excerpt from “The Emotional Lives of Animals”, and here are articles by Professor Beckoff on the topic of Animal Emotions in Psychology Today. Simply put, you do not have to be “human people” to have the capacity to suffer.
Downed cow dragged to slaughter (Photo credit: Farm Sanctuary)
The dairy industry survives off of exploiting the sexual reproduction of cows. Dairy cows are forcibly and artificially impregnated on a “rape rack,” and once the calf is born, the mother is not given a chance to bond with her young. Instead, the calf either becomes a dairy cow herself or, if male, becomes veal. Once spent, an adult dairy cow is sent off to slaughter to become “meat.”
And perhaps worst of all, we want to conceal the abuses and violence committed against animals by enacting ag-gag bills.
Please, Add your voice to the thousands who are speaking out against the Idaho ag-gag bill by signing the petition against the law.
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