Nearly half of the Christmas cards I received this year included pets in the family photo or had pets’ names listed alongside family members’ names. Statistics show that half of the dogs in America will receive Christmas presents. Yet how many people will pause to consider the life of the pig that becomes their Christmas …
Dec
22
Sep
10
Why I Am Vegan: Walter Bond’s Story
I found this story via Once Upon A Vegan. “Why I am vegan” By Walter Bond In the winter of 1995, when I was 19 years old, I got a job with a company by the name of Dakota Mechanical. We built slaughter-houses in the Midwest, mainly in Iowa. The state of Iowa is the …
May
20
By The Numbers
Travel for another wedding, immediately followed by illness, led to a lack of posts this week. Although I’m not fully recovered, I’m back to the grind today. — Sometimes numbers speak louder than words. I find these numbers absolutely shocking. And I am glad I no longer contribute to them. (All numbers below are from …
Apr
02
Blessed Are The Merciful
Have compassion as God has compassion. Matthew 5:48 As Christians celebrate Christ’s ultimate sacrifice and resurrection this Easter, let us resolve to emulate His compassion in our own lives. There’s no better place to begin than the dinner table. As we break bread, let’s break ties with some of the most violent and ungodly places …
Mar
19
Expensive Excrement (yet another poop post)
Two weeks ago, a Kansas City, MO court awarded $11 million to 15 people in a case about pig poop. The plaintiffs sued Premium Standard Farms (a pig CAFO – Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) over the cesspits of pig manure causing nauseating odors and swarms of flies. In their testimony, the 15 plaintiffs said that the odors …
Mar
02
This Is Why
This March marks the two year anniversary of my decision to go meat-free. I immediately made the decision after reading first-hand accounts from slaughterhouse workers about the abuse that occurs in the meat industry. It broke my heart, not only to realize the immense suffering that these animals endure, but also to realize how horribly …
Dec
11
Downed Pigs
“Downed” animals are animals that can not stand on their own. One of the most rampant forms of animal abuse is trying to force downed animals to stand by jabbing, kicking, shooting with high powered hoses, prodding with electric rods, poking in the eyes, and ramming them with forklifts. Many of these animals are brutally …
Aug
10
Meet Your Meat: Pigs
Back to the basics this week: Meet your meat. Pigs are often compared to dogs because they are affectionate, loyal, and intelligent. Most people are not familiar with pigs because 97% of pigs in the United States today are on factory farms. People would be surprised to learn that pigs dream, recognize names, play video …
May
15
Feeding Our Food (Part 2)
Let me just remind you where we left off: discussing the meal that is served up in CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations), where most of our farm animals are raised. That meal, in case you’ve forgotten, consists of corn, soy, antibiotics, hormones, meat from other animals (including diseased animals), bits of feathers, hair, skin, hooves, …
May
13
Feeding Our Food (Part 1)
When we think of farm animals, we picture cows eating grass on the pasture, pigs rolling in mud troughs, and chickens pecking at the ground for grubs. Unfortunately, this is nowhere near reality. In fact, most of our farm animals are not raised on farms at all. Instead, they are raised in Confined Animal Feeding …
