Horses Don't Deserve Slaughter: Stop an American Tragedy

Written by Grace Brosofsky for the sake of animals

No one can dispute that horses have served as beloved companions to Americans for years. They have performed farm labor, been ridden to victory in races, and even saved human lives. Many people have found emotional connections with horses, animals that have proven to be sentient, intelligent, and loving. Do these animals deserve to die?


When horses have indisputably provided so much for humans, it is impossible to say that disposing of these animals through slaughter is in any way fair or humane. However, horse slaughter is becoming a reality on the home front- in America, a country the horse helped to build. As absurd as this idea seems, Congress has lifted the ban on horse slaughter, a legislative move that can be described as nothing but backwards progress. 

Proponents of horse slaughter have made up many excuses for this absurdity, saying that the prevention of horse agriculture destroyed "an entire sector of animal agriculture for purely sentimental and romantic notions," but is life merely a sentimental or romantic notion? In my opinion, life cannot be said to be less valuable than money, but even from a purely economic standpoint, horse slaughter has many drawbacks. According to the USDA, if horse slaughterhouses open in the United States, Congress will have to allocate money for inspections, and taxpayers' dollars will be wasted on an industry most taxpayers don't support. In addition, horse slaughter will damage rather than aid the horse industry. Horse breeders have been breeding fewer horses due to the economic recession, helping to balance supply and demand, but if slaughterhouses are instituted in America, inhumane breeders will be more likely to breed excess foals with the intention of selling "bad" horses to slaughterhouses.

In addition, horse meat of "unwanted" horses cannot even be said to be fit for human consumption. Proponents of horse slaughter such as Sue Wallis have unwittingly admitted that unsafe drugs are given to horses that could contaminate our food supply. In truth, horses are not meant to be killed, so they are raised without consideration to FDA regulations, making the industry one that is mutually harmful to humans and to horses.  

Furthermore, while horse consumption advocates try to understate the cruelty of the slaughter process by terming it "euthanasia", horses being slaughtered experience everything but a painless death. Reports of U. S. slaughterhouses expose horses being bound by their back legs and undergoing throat-slicing- an end to life that no sentient being should have to experience. In addition, according to the USDA, 92 percent of horses sent to the slaughterhouse are not in a condition where they need to be killed; they would have a good quality life if not slaughtered, further proving that horse slaughter is in no way “beneficial” to the horse. The slaughter of horses damages the environment, and U. S. slaughterhouses have been revealed to disobey environmental regulations. If these animals were allowed to die a natural death, this environmental harm would not be caused.

Lastly, take a moment to consider this issue through the eyes of a horse. Imagine that you have never done anything wrong, and suddenly the people you have served take you to your death, a death that is slow, painful, and gruesome. Although lawmakers have sadly voted to allow this to be the reality for many horses, you can take a stand to stop the cruelty by joining me in signing this petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-usa-horse-slaughter.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/30/horses-could-soon-be-slaughtered-for-meat-in-us/?test=latestnews#ixzz1kDOB5Ijx

http://secratariat.webs.com/factsofhorseslaughter.htm


http://stophorseslaughter.com/blog/


You can also sign this petition at http://signon.org/sign/ban-horse-slaughter-now.

Dissection Hurts: How "Education" is Harming Students, Animals, and the Environment

Written by Grace Brosofsky for the sake of animals

For most people, dissection is accepted as part of a good, hands-on education. However, the much-hidden truth about dissection makes it clear that it should be no part of ethical schooling. This truth is that dissection hurts everyone- animals, the environment, and even the students whom it is supposed to help educate- making it hard to understand why it is considered anything close to "education".   

First and foremost, dissection unnecessarily takes the lives of millions of innocent animals every year. The animals sold by science supply companies are not simply gathered after their natural deaths as many students believe. Instead they are bred to be brutally killed, bought from other inhumane industries such as factory and fur farming, or taken by "bunchers" who seize strays, animals being given free-of-cost to people offering a "good home", and sometimes even pets that are taken illegally without payment. Supply companies have been revealed to treat animals with revolting cruelty under the cover of their claims to "enrich the educational experience" with their products. One large American supply seller was shown to have forced formaldehyde into living cats- the same animals that serve as beloved and often pampered companions to many American families. In Mexico, homeless children were paid one dollar for every cat they collected, and the gathered animals were then crammed together into a sack and drowned to be purchased by American businesses such as Southwestern Scientific. These are only a few of the numerous cases of cruelty that show the truth behind cutting for education. It is clear that the lives of innocent animals of many kinds being destroyed should be no part of humane education.    

Furthermore, dissection has been shown to negatively affect the very people who are supposed to benefit from it- students. The formaldehyde and formaldehyde-based substances used to preserve dead animals being dissected can cause numerous health problems. Included among these are lung, throat, and nasal cancer, all which most strive to avoid. Undoubtedly, students should not be made to participate in an activity that could potentially make them at a greater risk for diseases that could take their lives. People have also had mental illnesses and violence partially induced by dissecting. When students are taught to cut dead animals into pieces, they are subtly taught to think of life as less and less valuable and become cold to what they are doing. For example, Jeffrey Dahmer, an infamous murderer, admitted that academic dissection was what prompted him to be attracted to killing and mutilation. Few can argue that education should not involve making students more inclined to murder.

Lastly, schools today try to teach environmental consciousness but at the same time are harming our planet through dissection. The killing of the most-often dissected animals- frogs- causes the ecosystem to become off-balanced, and insects grow to be a significant issue. When insects increase in number because of the decrease of frogs, insect-carried diseases become more prominent, food supplies become damaged, and more toxic insecticides are used. Furthermore, the discarding of toxin-covered dead animals can also inflict environmental problems. The toxic chemicals released can kill wild animals and make our land, water, and food all more polluted. Why dissect when doing so hurts everyone? The answer is that there is no reason for dissection, especially when there are effective and cost-efficient alternatives such as computer-simulated dissections and life-like models. The truth is clear- we need to stop making an activity that so greatly harms animals, students, and the environment "education".  Make a difference and take a stand against this inhumane practice by signing this petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stopdissection/.

Information Source: http://www.peta2.com/COLLEGE/c-lowdown.asp.

Horse-Drawn Carriage Rides: Less Beautiful Than They Seem

Written by Grace Brosofsky

Rides in horse-drawn carriages seem like a beautiful, memorable, and sentimental way to tour cities such as New York, but in truth, they are all but beautiful in the light of what the horses who pull them undergo. First and foremost, horse-drawn carriages can cause accidents fatal for both horses and humans to occur. When pulling carriages through streets full of honking traffic, horses can be easily spooked by the chaos and noise surrounding them. According to PETA, "A simple car backfire or a honking horn can cause a horse to panic and run around uncontrollably, endangering the horse, the carriage occupants, and car drivers." It is hard to understand why the lives of humans and animals would be endangered for the romance of a carriage ride.

Not only are the horses put at risk on the streets, they are often treated with very poor standards outside of the unavoidable dangers of their "jobs". There are few regulations put into place to protect the rights of these animals.  In describing the plight of carriage horses, actress Lea Michele said, "Imagine for a moment that you're forced to do hard physical labor all day, seven days a week- whether it's sweltering hot or freezing cold outside. At the end of the day, instead of relaxing on [an] easy chair or sleeping in a comfortable bed, you are locked in a tiny closet all night long." Sadly, this is the life of the horses forced to pull carriages. They are made to labor extensive hours through extreme weather conditions, only to come home to far from spacious, dilapidated, multi-level "stables" that they have to trudge up narrow ramps to enter. The horses suffer from many health problems, often having lung illnesses and becoming lame from walking on streets made for cars, not animals. After all their toil, they are often sold to slaughterhouses instead of being allowed to live the remainder of their lives comfortably. The average life expectancy for horses given the job of pulling carriages in New York City is sadly low- less than four years, in comparison to a police horse's working life of fourteen years.

In the words of Debbie Leahy, the director of PETA, "There's nothing 'romantic' about animal abuse, injury, and death. How many more horses will be mangled and how many more drivers will land in hospital beds before New York City bans these devices?" The truth is that horses deserve to be grazing in pastures, not dragging carriages through busy city streets. You can make a difference by signing a petition to stop this seemingly romantic, but truthfully inhumane practice at http://www.change.org/petitions/ban-horse-drawn-carriages-in-new-york-city-new-bill-needs-support.

Links to Information Sources:
http://thestir.cafemom.com/entertainment/114617/glee_star_lea_michele_horsedrawn
http://www.usuallyvegan.com/tag/horse-drawn-carriage-rides-cruel/
http://www.banhdc.org/

Save a Life

Each year, animal shelters kill around three to four million dogs and cats whose only crime is having no home. These animals lose their life in a matter of days after being captured and caged by the "pound". Before being euthanized, they are often kept in sad conditions with uncomfortable cages and little protection from cold, heat, and disease. Please, if you're considering buying a new pet, save a life by adopting a shelter animal who would otherwise be cruelly disposed of. Give an animal the chance to escape the death sentence and serve as your lovable companion.

The Cosmetic Crisis: The Sad Facts on Animal Testing

When using make-up or household goods such as furniture polish, it is easy not to think that these products are doing any harm. However, I have learned that each year millions of animals suffer and often die in cosmetic testing, the inhumane testing of these consumer products. Essentially unknown to most shoppers, animals as loved as dogs, guinea pigs, and rabbits who did nothing to make themselves deserving of punishment are tortured and jeopardized. The conclusions to the tests do not even help human health, making the conduction of animal testing difficult to justify.
 There are multiple different types of these tests, and none can be described as anything but irrationally cruel. In some tests, albino rabbits are confined to stocks that do not allow any movement and let only their heads stick out. Their eyes are forced open with painful clasps so that a substance can be dripped in. The adverse effects of the product being tested are recorded at set amounts of time. This can go on for up to eighteen long and gruesome days, while the rabbits endure such symptoms as blood loss, inflammation of the irises and eyelids, ulcers, large-scale depreciation, and even permanent vision loss. Not only must the rabbits experiences these painful symptoms, they also often die by breaking their necks in attempt of freedom from the tight hold of the stocks.

The acute toxicity (lethal dose or poisoning) test is another, possibly even crueler, type of cosmetic testing. An animal victim to this form of testing is given a substance through its mouth or eyes, punctures cut in its throat, or tubes inserted into its stomach. It can also receive the product being tested through a gas mask or shot into its blood vessels or beneath its skin. Animals receive more and more of the product until a certain quantity of them, which can range from 50 to 100 percent, sadly dies. Before dying, they experience such symptoms as blood loss through the mouth, nose, and eyes, difficulty breathing, seizures, atypical body stance, emancipation, rashes, constipation, and diarrhea.

Animal testing can be accredited with purposely killing large masses of animals and harming many more, but it cannot even be said to produce solid results judged as scientifically accurate. Many companies use animal testing simply because by performing it they can sell products that are not truly safe due to the tests' inaccuracy. They often try to argue that they must use animals in cosmetic testing, but over 500 companies have shown that other accurate testing methods can be used, such as technological simulations, tissue and cell cultures, and tests on corneas from eye banks. The Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission do not require animal testing, so there is no reason for it to be performed. Take a stand against this inhumane process that tortures millions by buying cruelty-free products.   

Information Source: http://www.mercyforanimals.org/cosmetic_testing.asp

Introduction

Hi, my name is Grace Brosofsky, and I have an enormous love for animals. I am writing this blog to bring awareness to the cruel misfortunes of animals about issues such as animal testing, slaughtering, and homelessness. Animals need a voice, and I am hoping to help be their voice by presenting not just an opinion, but factual information about their sadly true situations. By doing this, I hope that I am able to help animals have the better life that they deserve.