Animal Rights

By: Ellie Rodriguez

Ellie Rodriguez
Mr.Leidecker
5/5/16
3rd hour
Are killing animals ethical?
There are more than 150 billion animals slaughtered every year, this includes the meat,
dairy, and egg industry. These numbers are astounding and the funny thing is we treat these
animals completely different than we would treat our house pets. The reason we dont treat our
house pets this way is because it is considered abuse, but whats the difference between house
pets and any other animal? We need to start having sympathy towards these animals and start
making a change. Consuming meat and dairy does not only affect the animals but our health and
environment as well.
Most people would argue and state that we need to kill animals in order to remain healthy
and get a sufficient amount of protein, but that isnt the case. You can get all of your nutrients
from vegan food. Women tend to need around 46g of protein and for men they need 56g on
average. There are 28.6g of protein in soy beans, that being said you can see just how easily you
can get protein from plant based/vegan foods. Also, if health is the reason you are scared to turn
vegan then you should know that on average, vegetarian men and women live 9.5 and 6.1 years
longer, respectively, than their meat-eating counterparts. (PETA Prime 1)
Animals are not just food products; they are thinking and feeling individuals. So often we
forget this, and act as if their life doesnt matter and that it is so easily replaceable. The torture

and abuse these animals go through is something I would not wish upon my worst enemy. Since
male chicks do not lay eggs, and are not used in the meat industry they are considered useless
and are suffocated, gassed or minced alive at a day old. (Animal Equality 1) The female chicks
are kept in tiny wire battery cages where they get to spend their life, until they are killed because
they are unable to produce an abundant amount of eggs. For cows on the other hand, the baby
females will face forced impregnation and be ripped away from their mothers, just so we can
have a cold glass of milk. Forced removal from their mothers, and others of their herd, causes
them a great deal of anxiety since they are sociable creatures capable of recognizing each other
and establishing strong relationships that can last their whole lives. (Animal Equality 1) The
baby males are shot at birth or raised for veal for a short amount of time before they are
slaughtered. Imagine if someone took a mothers son away right after she gave birth to him. That
would be the mothers worst nightmare, so there is no reason why putting a mother cow through
such a traumatizing experience should be any different. Pigs are seen as just ways of
reproduction, and if the mothers cant reproduce they are immediately slaughtered and used for
pork. Broiler chickens that are raised for meat, turkeys, and ducks, are crammed into huge
sheds and bred to be ready for slaughter so quickly that their legs often cannot support the weight
of their bodies, and many suffer heart attacks. (Animal Equality 1) It seems very unethical to be
doing this, and that is exactly why people need to be vegan and stop hurting the animals.
Not only is consuming meat and dairy killing the animals, but it is also destroying our
health. When cancer researchers started to search for links between diet and cancer, one of the
most noticeable findings was that people who avoided meat were much less likely to develop the
disease. (The Physicians Committee 1) Vegetarians are 40% less likely to develop cancer
compared to a meat eater, being vegan would increase that percentage. You will prevent disease

and feel amazing. Some things you will notice is your energy levels will increase, youll lose
weight, your hair will become healthier, and your skin will clear up. Those are only a few of the
many benefits of developing a vegan lifestyle. On top of all of this, the vegan diet is the only diet
known to reverse heart disease. (Authority Nutrition 1) Clearly the vegan diet is much more
beneficial than a diet filled with meat and dairy, you get to feel amazing while saving the
animals.
If you care about the planet/environment at all you would adopt a vegan diet. As livestock
expands it results in an increase in deforestation. 70 percent of previous forested land in the
Amazon is occupied by pastures, and feed crops cover a large part of the remainder. (Vegan
Outreach 1) That isnt the only environmental benefit though; the major source of pollution in
our water is from animal waste. This pollution is from the animal wastes, antibiotics and
hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and pesticides used for feed crops, and sediments
from eroded pastures. (Vegan Outreach 1) Lastly eating meat and Dairy contributes greatly to
global warming, according to a 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), our diets and, specifically, the meat in them cause more greenhouse gases
carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, and the like to spew into the atmosphere than
either transportation or industry. (Vegan Outreach 1) We are slowly ruining our environment and
the reason why is right in front of all of us, yet we do nothing to fix it.
As you can see, being vegan has endless benefits for not only your health but the animals
and environment as well. It is not hard to refrain from consuming meat and dairy, after all if you
do continue you are ultimately responsible for the death of many animals every year. Farm
animals and house pets shouldnt be seen as different, they are living individuals who can feel
pain just like us, and thats the reason you should go vegan.

Works Cited Page

"Food." Animal Equality. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2016.

"Environmental Destruction." Vegan Outreach. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2016.

"Meat Consumption and Cancer Risk." The Physicians Committee. N.p., 13 July
2012. Web. 08 May 2016.

"PETA Prime: Do Vegans Live Longer?" PETA Prime Do Vegans Live Longer
Comments. N.p., 28 Nov. 2012. Web. 08 May 2016.

"11 Common Myths About Vegan Diets." RSS 20. N.p., 18 Mar. 2014. Web. 08
May 2016.