Vegetarianism Scientific And Spiritual Basis

Author(s): Jashwant B Mehta
Publisher: Jashwant B Mehta

Page 28

Chapter VI
ETHICAL / SPIRITUAL ASPECTS
(a) The suffering of the animals and the birds before the
act of slaughter Besides the inhumanity involved in the act of slaughter itself, there are countless other cruelties that precede the final killing of animals. The suffering involved in the transport of slaughter of animals is well known, being a common sickening sight. Animals transported by trucks, are loaded so closely that their movement is impossible and suffocation result. Loading/unloading itself is done with shocking callousness. Animals are prodded in the sensitive parts of their bodies with pointed instruments or electric prods and their tails are mercilessly twisted to get them moving. Very often, they are bodily picked up and thrown into the truck, on top of other animals. Unloading requires a similar ritual resulting in further injuries. Even when transported long distances, the animals are not given water, leave alone food. Some reach their destination dead and many with fractured bones. Legs are sometimes intentionally broken to aid easy handling. The agony they undergo till they are ironically relieved of it at the end, is simply unspeakable. Any sort of cruelty that one can imagine is perpetrated on them. The treatment of live chickens during transport to selling points and butcheries is an everyday sight. They are transported to far away cities in overcrowded lorries, without food and water and often subjected to the hot sun or rain for long hours. They can also be seen being carried upside down in bunches hanging from the handlebars of bicycles, their legs tied together, or crammed into baskets in suffocating conditions and kept by the roadside for sale. They are sometimes taken directly to restaurants where they await slaughter upon orders received from customers.
(b) Glimpses into a poultry farm? The layers (the egg-laying chickens) are crowded in small cages made of wire-mesh in which they can hardly move or spread their wings. This lack of space to stretch their limbs causes their legs to get deformed. Artificial lighting round the clock simulates daylight and thereby tricks chicken into laying more eggs. Painful de-beaking is done to prevent them from injuring themselves and others during fights that break out as a natural consequence
Source : "Vegetarian Life Style Pub : Beauty Without Cruelty (Pune based NGO) 2 Ibid