Published Letters and Op-Eds from
COK’s Writers Group

A Food Supply Without Antibiotics

Published in The New York Times on February 15, 2002.

To the Editor:

While a reduction in antibiotic use by the poultry industry is a positive development (front page, Feb. 10), let us not lose sight of the larger tragedy of poultry production.

Some nine billion United States chickens are forced each year to endure a life of agony on factory farms. From de-beaking without anesthesia near birth to intense confinement to an unimaginable slaughter, the lives of the animals we eat are filled with misery.

Countless people are realizing that eating animal products causes great suffering for both animals and humans. These people are doing the right thing: going vegetarian.

SUZANNE MCMILLAN
Takoma Park, Md., Feb. 12, 2002
The writer is the writing department manager, Compassion Over Killing.