$JES 921 Book of Compassion Reverence For All Life Reference Book

Author(s): Pramoda Chitrabhanu, Pravin K Shah
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

Page 63

12 - Alternatives to Animal Abuse
Chickens: Factory farm bred layer hens are confined 4 to 5 per 1 to 2 square feet wire mesh cages arranged in tiers. Over 90% of all eggs produced come from factory farms. A broiler chicken's life is around 8 to 10 weeks. The average space allotted them is about 1/2 square foot per bird.
This overcrowding produces such stress and neurotic behavior in the birds that they resort to feather - pecking, scratching and cannibalism. The solution to this is to clip half of the upper and lower beaks of all the birds by putting them through a hot knife machine, to clip their toes, to keep them in constant dim lighting and feeding them anti-stress chemicals added to their water and food. "Free-range" hens are ultimately slaughtered when their productivity drops off.
Sheep: Sheep by nature, do not have "too much" wool. Scientific breeding, under factory farm conditions, creates an excessive amount of wool. Sheep are shorn continuously in all seasons. Every year, hundreds of thousands of sheep die from exposure to cold. A closely shorn sheep is more sensitive to cold than a naked human.
Sheep are not shorn by "experts" as we see in educational films. The truth is that sheep are pinned down violently and shorn quickly while blood-stauncher stand by to cover the cuts with tar.
Old sheep are ultimately shipped to the slaughterhouse in abominable conditions and without food or water.
If people were to stop eating lamb and mutton, sheep would still be raised for their wool alone. Buying woolen products supports this cruelty.
Bees:
Bees are bred commercially. Their honey and combs are taken from them, and given a cheap sugar substitute on which they cannot survive. Thousands upon thousands of bees die. Honey also
THE BOOK OF COMPASSION
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