Eating Mercifully - A Documentary that Explores Christian Perspectives on Factory Farming

Dear Mark,
Have just read your e-mail and find it very contradictory. You have obviously seen the videos about how animals are treated on factory farms and find it inhumane. You rightly suggest we should all grow our own food if possible and this is the way of the future. I am passionate about stopping factory farming and animal experiments and became a vegan for this reason but this is not the aim of the article or the Humane Society, to stop people eating meat. It is to raise awareness of these farms and the cruelty inflicted on God's creatures just so we can have cheap meat and eggs and milk. Then consumers can demand food that has been raised in a compassionate way - as in the animals actually have room to move, raise their young, feed on their natural food and see daylight. Is this too much to ask - cows are fed grain which makes them ill and are then pumped full of anti-biotics to keep them alive. These anti-biotics and growth hormones are still in the meat that is sold to the public. Healthy? I don't think so - cows eat grass and should be allowed to graze. To compare the suffering of millions of animals to carrots and other vegetables is utterly ridiculous - we should be protecting animals (we are animals too remember) and spreading the word - why do you think it is so secret the conditions on these farms - they do not want the consumers to know what goes on so they can carry on producing cheap diseased meat and milk etc.
Animals rights activists are heroes in my eyes - to stand up for these helpless creatures and go to prison for their beliefs is something to be proud of - I would willingly do anything even if illegal to stop this cruelty and raise awareness. Governments protect these huge factory businesses and animal research - it is despicable and they should be exposed. All about money of course.
I'm sure all you hunters, trappers and fishermen will continue with your traditions - if you are morally happy with this. If I ate meat then I would rather eat an animal that had been living wild and shot than one kept caged and not able to move for it's miserable life on a factory farm. Ideally the animal should be left to run free and live. The Humane Society does a wonderful job along with all the other organizations out there - without them the animals would have no voice!
Regards, eleanor

It is not just the Humane Society that has documented countless incidents of horrific animal abuse on factory farms. Suggest you check it out. Mercy for Animals. Farm Forward. Compassionate Animal Action. There are countless websites/animal welfare activism organizations documenting horrific cruelty taking place on our factory farms. These are not isolated incidents. They are the norm. Trapping is cruel. Stick your foot or arm in one and see what you think! I grew up on a semi-farm - old fashioned farming of which has all but disappeared was caring and concerned for it's animals, and for most small town farmers it was a way of life, connecting to the land and the animals, and caring for the living creatures that sustain us. I grew up with hunters in the family, we ate the deer we shot. My family taught that we took only what we needed, we did it humanely. The reasons that veganism and the like has taken root is because of the horrific nature of factory farming, and the unwillingness of the industry or the powers in charge to change it. It doesn't have to be like it is - they do not have to abuse and mutilate and cut up our food while it is alive - they do not have to beat, burn out their horns without anesthetic, cut off their testicles and tails without anesthetic, and on and on it goes. Unimaginable things are happening to creatures that feel, breathe, have needs like you and me. And WE as the human race are all responsible for it taking place, because we eat the food they produce, we don't stand up to the powers that allow it to continue. Personally, I am outraged and do not understand why more people are not outraged to the point of serious action. And we call our nation civilized? What goes on behind the closed doors of factory farms is nothing more than legalized violence. It is condoning and producing a workforce of people completely desensitized to violence, and this isn't good for society in any way shap or form. And the food being produced isn't fit to eat - it is poisoning us.