Activism Out Loud: Should We Numb Farm Animals so They are Immune to Pain?

I just read an article in early September’s New Scientist magazine about research into numbing animals raised for food so that they don’t feel pain. Researchers are working to genetically alter the DNA of farm animals so that when they are exposed to pain and suffering, they aren’t “bothered” by it. What do you all think about this?

Personally, I feel this is simply a way to justify and continue animal abuse, neglect, and torture. It creeps me out, feels eerie, and feels viscerally immoral and ethically wrong. It may *seem* well-intentioned, but I think it’s a guise to continue using animals to meet human needs in whatever way suits them, no matter the consequences to the being, and to keep money flowing!!! Animal rights awareness is the factory farmer’s worst nightmare- this is such a crock of sh**! What do you want to make a bet that the meat and dairy industries are backing this research? I imagine altering perception and experience of pain and suffering in human slaves just so heinous practices and inhumane treatment could be continued. Why would anyone think this is okay to do to animals?

An editorial about this in this same magazine issue sums up my view pretty perfectly:
Yes, logically speaking, pain-free animals make sense. But only in a world that has already devalued animal lives to the point where factory farming is acceptable. Our visceral reaction to pain-free animals is actually a displaced reaction against the system that makes them necessary.

Too many of us are too attached to the pleasures of affordable meat to consider the plight of factory-farmed animals. If the proposal to create pain-free animals achieves anything, it is to force us to confront the pain and suffering that our diets inflict. End factory farming, and the "problem" of pain-free animals goes away, too.

And more fodder for discussion: Cloning Animals for Meat & Milk

Go Veg- Nurture Yourself and Earth!

Choosing not to eat meat makes an enormously important ecological impact. Here are some mind-blowing facts about how living a veg lifestyle can benefit the earth:

*Water- Each pound of meat not produced could provide a typical household water for a whole month! Roughly 2,500 gallons of water is required to produce that pound of meat- I3 to 15 times as much water needed to produce the same amount of plant protein. (NAVS) In addition, livestock produces billions of tons of waste/manure every year, contaminating water supplies, killing fish, poisoning drinking water, and contributing to birth defects and disease (Nutting).

*Wasted Resources- It takes up to 16 pounds of soybeans and grains to produce 1 lb. of beef (GoVeg.com)! If Americans alone reduced their meat consumption by 10%, over one-billion people throughout the world could be saved from starvation (Vegi Buro).

*Topsoil erosion- Every year in the U.S. alone, several billion tons of topsoil are lost each year on cropland and grazing land- almost all of which can be attributed to livestock agriculture. This is about the equivalent of losing four inches of topsoil over four million acres of cropland! (Veg. Soc. of CO)

*Fossil Fuel- It takes 78 calories of fossil fuel to produce 1 calorie of beef protein, but just 1 calorie of fossil fuel for 1 calorie of soybeans (NAVS). Forty pounds of soybeans are produced by the same amount of fossil fuel required to produce one pound of meat (Nutting)!

*Tropical rainforests – It takes 55 square feet of rainforest to make 1 hamburger from imported cattle! The demand for meat is a huge factor in the devastation of the world’s rainforests, which are being destroyed at an alarming 100 acres per second, in part to provide cheap beef for export. Every lost acre means less oxygen due to destroyed vegetation, extinct species, and more carbon dioxide to contribute to global warming. (NAVS)

*Climate- Livestock are the cause of 15-20 percent of global methane emissions- cows produce one pound of methane for every 2 pounds of meat they yield. That's about 40 percent more than vehicle emissions and more than all the homes and offices in the world put together! (NAVS) One molecule of methane contributes 25 times more to the Greenhouse effect than one molecule of carbon (Vegi-Buro).

*If you ate plant-based meals every other day for a year, you would save 487 pounds of CO2. Based on this figure, going veggie for one week would save about 19 pounds of CO2. (eartheasy.com) **~This translates into 106,792 pounds saved per year by EtsyVeg members alone!~**

* Fifteen total vegetarians can be fed on the same amount of land needed to feed one person on a meat-based diet (NAVS).

In other words, every person who chooses to go veg could potentially save hundreds of thousands of gallons of water, save valuable rainforest and land, protect wildlife, increase the food supply for the hungry, reduce energy use, and reduce global warming. Check out some easy changes you can make to reduce your impact on the planet, and/or to go veg!