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

Letter to the Editor: MTV Ads Expose Animal Cruelty

Dear Editor,

Nestled in between commercials for everything from jeans to movies, two ads now airing on MTV in Atlanta 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 most of us think about cows, pigs or chickens, we tend to conjure up idyllic images of Old MacDonald's Farm-contented animals roaming lush green pastures. Such storybook scenes are even illustrated on various packages of food we buy, lending credence to our childhood beliefs. In reality, however, the overwhelming majority of animals raised for food today live on massive, mechanized factory farms where they are crammed by the thousands inside sunless sheds. These systems are designed to raise the greatest number of animals in the smallest amount of space. The bottom line is strictly profit-cows, pigs and birds are viewed merely as units of production and, consequently, their welfare is severely compromised.

With virtually no laws to protect them, farm animals can be-and routinely are-treated in ways that are so cruel, it would be illegal if those same abuses were inflicted upon cats or dogs. Basically, standard practices on today's factory farms are gruesome.

As consumers, most of us aren't aware of the horrors forced upon factory-farmed animals-and, quite simply, the industry would rather we not know. But the two commercials now running on MTV in Atlanta and other cities take viewers behind the industry's closed doors to see, perhaps for the first time, the immense suffering endured by those animals typically seen as nothing more than meat, egg and milk machines. Viewers are further directed to www.TryVeg.com to learn more and to discover how to make the transition to a healthier and more humane diet with ease.

Factory-farmed animals don't have a choice. But we do: Every time we sit down to eat, we can take a stand against animal cruelty-and help make this world a more compassionate place -- by choosing vegetarian foods.

Erica Meier
Executive Director
Compassion Over Killing
www.cok.net