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How Veganism Helps Animal Welfare

This is the core issue of being vegan: the treatment and welfare of animals (all animals, including insects).

What distinguishes vegans from vegetarians is that we recognize that there is more to animal treatment than simply not killing them. People get very hung up on the idea that taking eggs or milk isn’t harm, and that it’s just fine. That’s a very myopic view of things, and not accurate at all. In fact, animals kept for wool, milk, or eggs are probably suffering more than those kept for meat because they suffer for many more years.

Since you are already reading a book about veganism, you’re probably very aware of animal welfare issues around a traditional meat-eating diet. But if you’re still on-the-fence about the seriousness of this global problem, keep reading.

Not all animals undergo the same cruelties, but there are some pretty consistent issues across the board in the livestock industry. In almost any case, animals are kept in extremely small spaces living in filth. They are treated cruelly with no concern for their pain or fear. Antibiotics are used almost constantly because livestock would surely die from infection from their living conditions otherwise.

For the “lucky” animals not destined for slaughter, life is not good. Eggs come from chickens kept in tiny cramped cages for their entire lives, and dairy cows undergo repeated pregnancies and constant milking for years until they die an exhausted death. In most dairy operations, male calves aren’t needed so they are sent off to be sold as veal. That means their short lives are spent locked in containers so they can’t move, to keep their muscles tender.

Sheep kept for wool don’t fare any better, though this tends to be a surprise to most people. Careless shearing conditions lead to cuts, scrapes and other bloody injuries that are not usually treated properly.

The situations aren’t just about crowding, disease and dirty conditions either. Staff in many of these livestock facilities treat the animals horribly. There are countless videos that have been taken showing beatings and other violent abuse that goes on in factory farms.

The only way to eliminate all of this abuse is to remove the consumer demand for these products. If people stopped buying meat and other animal products, there would be no need to hold billions of livestock animals captive. That’s how being a vegan helps.