“When we sit down to eat, we have a choice. We can support misery and violence, or we can make choices that support mercy and compassion. The decision should be an easy one for us. If we believe that it is wrong to kill, we should not support an industry that requires others to kill for us.” – Bhuvaneshwari Gupta
All of India’s religions – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism – share one commonality. Whether we call it “ahimsa” or something else, compassion and nonviolence are central to most people’s faith. These are not merely lofty, philosophical ideals that we read about in books. We become compassionate by acting with compassion in our daily lives. We become merciful by extending our mercy to those who are less fortunate or weaker than ourselves. It is hard at times to know how we can make a real difference in the world, but every one of us has the opportunity to practice nonviolence every time we sit down to eat. All we have to do is leave meat off our plates and choose kinder vegetarian options.
Our fellow inhabitants of the Earth – other species – may look different or have different ways of communicating, but all living creatures share an interest in living free from pain and fear.
Did you know that pigs are smarter than dogs and every bit as friendly, loyal and affectionate? They communicate constantly with one another, and more than 20 of their oinks, grunts and squeals have been identified as distinct communications that apply to various situations. Newborn piglets learn to run to their mothers’ voices, and mother pigs “sing” to their young while nursing. Pigs are known to dream, recognise their own names, learn “tricks” like sitting for a treat and lead social lives of a complexity previously observed only in primates. Biologist Tina Widowski, who studies pigs and marvels at their intelligence, has said, “When I was working with the monkeys, I used to look at them and say: ‘If you were a pig, you would have this figured out by now'”.
Mother hens also care deeply for their babies. A mother hen will turn her eggs as many as five times an hour and cluck soothingly to her unborn chicks. Studies have shown that these smart, inquisitive birds have good memories and that they can learn basic math skills. They also develop lasting bonds with their companions.
Kim Sturla, the cofounder of an animal sanctuary in the United States, recounts the story of Mary, an elderly hen who had been rescued from a city dump, and her companion, an elderly rooster. “They bonded, and they would roost on the picnic table”, she says. “One stormy night with the rain really pelting down, I went to put them in the barn and I saw the rooster had his wing extended over the hen protecting her.”
Cows are individuals with distinct personalities. Some are bold and adventurous, whereas others are shy and timid. They are intelligent and curious animals who form social hierarchies, can recognise more than 100 members of their herd, have best friends and cliques and even hold grudges against other cows who have treated them badly.
These gentle giants mourn when a loved one dies or when they are separated from one another, and they shed tears over their loss. The mother-calf bond is particularly strong, and there are countless reports of mother cows who frantically call and search for their babies after the calves have been taken away on dairy farms.
Cows have also been known to go to extraordinary lengths to escape from abattoirs. For example, when workers at a US abattoir went on break, Emily the cow made a break of her own. She took a tremendous leap over a 5-foot gate and escaped into the woods, surviving for several weeks during New England’s snowiest winter in a decade. When she was eventually caught by the owners of a nearby sanctuary, the public demanded that the slaughterhouse allow the sanctuary to buy Emily for a dollar so that she could live out her remaining days in peace.
Although fish cannot always express pain and suffering in ways that humans easily recognise, marine biologists assure us that fish do indeed feel pain. And that’s just one of many ways that fish are like us.
Studies have shown that fish are smart animals who form complex social relationships and “talk” to one another underwater. Fish can count and tell time, are fast learners, think ahead and have unique personalities. Some fish use tools, such as the blackspot tuskfish who was photographed smashing a clam on a rock until the clam cracked open.
Yet the animals killed for food – inquisitive individuals who value their lives, solve problems, form friendships and experience fear and pain, just as we do – are treated more like “things” than the thinking, feeling beings that they are. They are crammed into cages and crates on filthy farms, their babies are taken away from them and they are kicked and prodded and deprived of everything that makes their lives worth living.
Farmed chickens are in constant pain, bred to grow so large so quickly that the bones in their tiny legs splinter because they cannot support all that extra weight. The accumulated waste in which they are forced to stand burns their eyes and lungs, and many birds lose their feathers and develop blistering, ulcerated feet. At the end of their miserable lives, the birds are roughly grabbed by their frail legs and wings – which often causes their bones to snap – and stuffed into cages to be transported to their deaths.
Video footage sent to PETA India of the cruel and unlawful killing of pigs in Goa shows the animals being repeatedly – and haphazardly – stabbed in the heart with knives, causing them to writhe about and scream in agony while desperately gasping for air. Some of the animals choke on their own blood.
During an undercover investigation of India’s dairy industry, PETA’s investigators witnessed cows and buffaloes who were routinely struck and kicked, buffaloes who bled but received no attention, unsanitary conditions in the tabelas and other examples of abuse and filth. One worker stuffed a dead calf’s head with hay and used it to try to coax a cow to produce milk.
When fish are dragged out of their ocean homes in huge nets (along with “non-target” victims such as dolphins and turtles), their gills often collapse, their eyes bulge out of their heads and their swim bladders burst because of the sudden pressure change. PETA’s investigation of fish farms revealed sick, parasite-infested fish who were forced to live in filthy water that was teeming with fish faeces. Conditions at fish markets were equally appalling. Mangur fish were kept alive in very little water and struggled to breathe. Endangered species, including sharks and dolphins, were sold openly, and the market grounds were strewn with discarded flesh, which attracted flies and stray animals.
Such abuse and ill-treatment of other beings defies the teachings of our holiest books – and should repulse any caring person.
When we sit down to eat, we have a choice. We can support misery and violence, or we can make choices that support mercy and compassion. The decision should be an easy one for us. If we believe that it is wrong to kill, we should not support an industry that requires others to kill for us.
Whenever we feel powerless to control the violence and prejudice that has gripped so much of the world, we can do this one thing and leave the broken bodies of other animals off our plates. The most important thing in life is to be kind, and if you are kind to animals by not eating them, then all the other kindnesses don’t seem so hard to embrace.
» Bhuvaneshwari Gupta is a nutritionist and campaigner at PETA India in the Mumbai area.
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