Published Letters and Op-Eds from
COK’s Writers Group
Letter to the Editor: MTV Ads Expose Animal Cruelty
To The Shield:
Nestled in between commercials for everything from jeans to movies, two ads
now airing on MTV in Evansville offer viewers something more serious to chew
on--the painful reality of where our meat, eggs and milk come from. The 30-second
spots, which are running in select cities nationwide, are part of a campaign
to shed light on the hidden abuses endured by farm animals and empower today's
youth to make compassionate choices.
When we think about cows, pigs or chickens, most of us conjure up idyllic images
of Old MacDonald's Farm-contented animals roaming lush green pastures. In reality,
the overwhelming majority of today's farm animals live on massive, mechanized
factory farms where they are crammed by the thousands inside sunless sheds.
These systems are designed to raise the greatest numbers in the smallest amount
of space. The bottom line is profit.
With virtually no laws to protect them, farm animals can be - and are - treated
in ways that would be illegal if inflicted upon cats or dogs. Chickens raised
for meat, for example, are overcrowded inside barren sheds layered with fecal
waste. Many suffer from a variety of untreated ailments including painful leg
disorders and heart disease caused by genetic manipulation for abnormally rapid
growth. Egg-laying hens spend their lives confined inside wire battery cages
suspended above manure pits. These social and intelligent birds are afforded
such a small living space, they can't even flap their wings.
Most of us aren't aware of the horrors forced upon factory-farmed animals because
the industry would rather we not know, but the commercials now on MTV in Evansville
take viewers behind closed doors to see, perhaps for the first time, the suffering
these animals endure for us to have meat, eggs and milk. The ads further direct
viewers to TryVeg.com to learn more about how each of us can help stop animal
cruelty every time we eat simply by choosing the vegetarian option.
Erica Meier
Executive Director
Compassion Over Killing
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