It is all very well to say that individuals must wrestle with their consciences--but only if their consciences are awake and informed. Industrial society, alas, hides animals’ suffering.

For modern animal agriculture, the less the consumer knows about what’s happening before the meat hits the plate, the better.

If true, is this an ethical situation? Should we be reluctant to let people know what really goes on, because we’re not really proud of it and concerned that it might turn them to vegetarianism?

Peter Cheeke, PhD, Oregon St. U. Professor of Animal Agriculture, Contemporary Issues in Animal Agriculture, 2004 textbook

There’s a schizoid quality to our relationship with animals, in which sentiment and brutality exist side by side.

Half the dogs in America will receive Christmas presents this year, yet few of us pause to consider the miserable life of the pig--an animal easily as intelligent as a dog--that becomes the Christmas ham.

New York Times Magazine “An Animal’s Place”
by Michael Pollan, 11/10/02

Factory Farms